Otto Mueller had put great hope for a good sales perspective into the gypsy portfolio. The elaborate large-size color lithographs count among the artist's most important graphic works, at the same time they are his last. However, sales of the complete portfolio were poor, so that Otto Mueller decided to sell the color lithographs piece by piece. Around two thirds of the entire edition come from the artist’s estate and were, just as it is the case with this sheet, confirmed by Erich Heckel. Otto Mueller was fascinated by the gypsy theme throughout his life, especially as he was convinced to be of gypsy descent himself. The artistic occupation with the subject field led to some of his most important works. The desire for freedom and an unrestrainedlife in and with nature was the guiding star above Otto Mueller's entire artistic creation. In this light the color lithographs in the gypsy portfolio can be understood as a sort of credo. The love for the subject becomes even more noticeable in context of the often rough implementation of the motif. A misconceived sentimentality provokes a danger of triviality. Otto Mueller kept an eye for objectivity in this series, which is one of the most important achievements in German graphic art from the first half of the twentieth century. [ KD]