LACMA

ShopMembershipMyLACMATickets
LACMA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
info@lacma.org
(323) 857-6000
Sign up to receive emails
Subscribe
© Museum Associates 2026
  • About LACMA
  • Jobs
  • Host An Event
  • Unframed
  • Press
  • FAQs
  • Log in to MyLACMA
  • Privacy Policy
© Museum Associates 2026
Collections

Willy Jaeckel
The inferno1923

On view:
BCAM 3rd Floor, Danse Macabre: Death in Print from Dürer to Dix
Graphite or chalk drawing, head-only portrait of a lean-faced man in a fitted cap, looking directly at viewer with bold shading and loose strokes
Monochrome print with loose, gestural strokes; a robed figure stands facing away toward a large conical hill, while a skeletal animal and a smaller figure crouch in the rocky foreground at left.
Charcoal or graphite drawing of two shrouded figures standing on a rocky ridge, rendered in stark black and white with vigorous hatched strokes; a vast, dark landscape recedes behind them, with a small roofed structure visible in the lower right distance.
Black and white lithograph or ink drawing with bold contrasts; a tall skeletal figure in a white shroud rises from a dark background above a heap of nude human figures, with an open coffin at left spilling more figures; expressive, gestural linework.
Monotype or lithograph in black and white, two robed figures seen from behind walking among tall, ghostly white vertical forms beneath a dark, swirling sky with a pale glowing oval at center top; expressive, heavily cross-hatched marks.
Graphite or charcoal drawing of a reclining nude figure in the foreground, arms outstretched, with a second smaller nude figure in the upper right background; loose, energetic shading against a sketchy landscape.
Black and white print or drawing with vigorous hatched linework depicting a large, contorted humanoid figure with an open, fanged mouth looming over several smaller prostrate figures below, against a diagonal rain-streaked background.
Lithograph with expressive, gestural mark-making; multiple nude figures lying and sprawling across a dark, undulating ground, receding into the distance beneath a turbulent sky with pale streaks of light.
Black and white print with loose, expressive linework; a haloed robed figure stands upright in a dark boat on open water, while three nude figures are positioned around the vessel — one recumbent inside the boat, two partially submerged alongside it; low hills visible on the horizon.
Charcoal or lithograph drawing of three nude figures grouped tightly together against a dark landscape with mountains and water; the central figure faces forward with head bowed, flanked by two figures with open mouths and mask-like faces, rendered with bold, gestural strokes and strong tonal contrast.
Intaglio print depicting a reclining nude figure viewed from behind, arms raised, set within a diagonal geometric frame against a dark background, rendered with vigorous cross-hatching and bold contrasts of black and white; a smaller figure appears in the background at right.
Lithograph landscape in black and white, with a robed figure standing at right edge overlooking a sweeping dark terrain marked by swirling oval forms in the foreground and undulating hills receding into the distance, rendered with expressive, gestural mark-making.
Black and white print of a dark bull with wide horns standing in a rocky landscape, rendered with vigorous hatched and gestural marks.
Intaglio print in black and white depicting three large vultures perched among tangled, gnarled branches and roots, with a sparse landscape and low mountain range in the background; expressive cross-hatched linework throughout.
Intaglio print with expressive, gestural linework depicting multiple nude figures in dynamic and contorted poses — some fallen, some standing or arching — amid diagonal lines suggesting falling rain, rendered in black ink with strong tonal contrasts.
Black and white drawing or print of two nude male figures in a curved, receding space, rendered with dense crosshatching and gestural marks; a large dark form dominates the upper left.
Monochrome print or drawing in black and white, a robed figure bent forward at the edge of a rocky outcrop, overlooking a dark, turbulent landscape rendered with bold, gestural marks and deep contrast.
Ink and wash drawing with bold, gestural strokes; a massive dark figure looms diagonally downward, face contorted and mouth open, toward a small solitary robed figure standing on a pale ground below.
Etching or lithograph in black and white; a seated nude figure in the foreground combs her hair with both arms raised, while a smaller clothed figure with glasses observes from the left; dark background with expressive, heavily worked marks.
Black and white lithograph depicting multiple nude figures sprawled and fallen across a dark ground plane, rendered with vigorous hatched mark-making; a standing white-robed figure watches from the upper right background.
Lithograph or charcoal drawing depicting multiple nude figures in a turbulent composition; a standing figure viewed from behind dominates the center, surrounded by crouching and reclining figures rendered with expressive, gestural marks in deep black and gray tones.
Lithograph or charcoal drawing in black and white depicting a dark winged creature with large eyes swooping above a pale figure falling or floating in a shadowy, turbulent void, rendered with vigorous gestural marks and deep contrasting tones.
Monochromatic ink or wash drawing with vigorous brushwork; a small robed figure at lower left faces a chaotic scene of snarling beast-like creatures looming overhead in deep black shadow.
Black and white print with expressive hatched marks; a rocky canyon landscape with a cloaked figure seated in the lower right, and small silhouettes of riders on horseback along the distant ridge.
Lithograph with bold, gestural mark-making depicting two or three intertwined figures in a turbulent composition; a central semi-nude figure reclines amid swirling dark forms, with a crouching figure at lower left and a dark cloaked figure at upper right; stark contrast between deep blacks and pale gray tones.
Monotype or charcoal drawing in black and white; two intertwined figures with loose, gestural marks — one with a bird-like head at left, one a nude human form at right — set against a dark, swirling background.
Black and white drawing, a robed figure seen from behind faces large swirling forms at left, while a landscape with small flame-like figures, spiral shapes, and distant mountains extends to the right, rendered with bold gestural marks and heavy crosshatching.
Monotype print of an abstracted landscape in black and white, with bold sweeping dark bands arching across the upper composition above pale rolling hills; a small standing figure visible in the lower left.
Lithograph depicting four standing nude figures in dynamic poses against a dark, gestural landscape background, rendered in loose black and white linework with deep contrasting shadows.
Charcoal or lithograph drawing, several nude figures reclining across a rocky landscape, with a robed standing figure at right observing them; rolling dark hills in the background, rendered in loose, gestural strokes with strong tonal contrast.
Lithograph depicting a mass of nude figures intertwined across a dark, turbulent ground, rendered in vigorous black and white with bold hatching and dramatic tonal contrasts; several figures recline or sprawl while others twist upright.
Black and white print with expressive, gestural mark-making; a heavyset nude figure bound with chains stands in a large barrel or tub, rendered in stark contrasts of white and deep black
Charcoal or ink drawing of multiple human figures and helmeted heads emerging from or lying flat across an open, wave-like landscape, rendered in loose gestural strokes with stark black-and-white contrast.
Charcoal or graphite drawing of a large bald figure looming over and grasping a smaller figure below, rendered with vigorous hatching and deep shadows; a third figure gestures in the background left.
Monochrome print or drawing with vigorous hatched marks; an outstretched arm extends diagonally from upper right to lower left, where an inverted face with open mouth appears, all rendered in deep blacks and stark whites.

Willy Jaeckel, Untitled, 1923, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies, purchased with funds provided by Anna Bing Arnold, Museum Associates Acquisition Fund, and deaccession funds, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Artist or Maker
Willy Jaeckel
Germany, 1888-1944
Title
The inferno
Place Made
Germany, Berlin
Date Made
1923
Medium
Printed material and thirty-five etchings with soft ground and drypoint on laid paper
Dimensions
Sheets: 16 1/2 x 11 3/4 in. (41.8 x 29.8 cm)
Credit Line
The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies, purchased with funds provided by Anna Bing Arnold, Museum Associates Acquisition Fund, and deaccession funds
Accession Number
83.1.95.1-.35
Classification
Books
Collecting Area
Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies
Selected Bibliography

  • Davis, Bruce. German Expressionist Prints and Drawings: The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989; Munich, Germany: Prestel, 1989.

Related Unframed

Related Unframed

This Weekend at LACMA: Mother’s Day Activities, Member Appreciation, Japanese Film Series, Teen Night, and More
This Weekend at LACMA: Mother’s Day Activities, Member Appreciation, Japanese Film Series, Teen Night, and More
  • May 11, 2012