Although without formal art training Heckel was a well-educated young man of extreme sensitivity who in 1905, while an architectural student in Dresden, joined with three other artists in forming a group which came to be known as Die Brucke (The Bridge) . In revolt against the sterile academic art of the period, they believed that art should be expressive not descriptive.

Fired with the enthusiasm of their vision of art as the expression of inner necessity these artists worked closely together in a former butchershop which Heckel had remodeled for their studio. Here, from 1905 to 1910 they executed paintings, wood scultpure and prints in great numbers but due to their poverty, canvasses were often painted over two and three times, the cheapest paper or cloth was used for prints, and lithographic stones were re-ground and turned over to a friend after only a few prints had been made. Blond Girl with its freshness, freedom of execution and absence of finished detail reflects the feverish activity of these years.

Source: Bulletin, March-April 1971.