In 1905 the former architecture students Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Fritz Bleyl founded Die Brücke (The Bridge), a group of artists whose goal it was to find new ways of artistic expression neglecting the techniques and ideas taught at art academies by the time and to bridge the gap between the different artistic disciplines. In 1906 Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein joined the group and Otto Mueller was to follow in 1910. Die Brücke was one of two groups of German painters fundamental to Expressionism, the other being Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), formed by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in Munich in 1911. Other important members of Der Blaue Reiter were Alexej von Jawlensky, August Macke, Paul Klee and Gabriele Münter.

The members of Die Brücke initially isolated themselves in a working-class neighborhood of Dresden, aiming thereby to reject their own bourgeois backgrounds and to concentrate on developing their rigorous style and ideology. Erich Heckel was able to obtain an empty butcher's shop on the Berlinerstrasse in Friedrichstadt for their use as a communal studio. The group developed a style based on vivid color, emotional tension and violent imagery, which was strongly influenced by the Primitivism they studied in the vast collections of African sculpture at the museums in Dresden and Berlin. After concentrating exclusively on urban subject matter, the group frequently ventured into the countryside around Dresden and the south of Germany on expeditions arranged by Otto Mueller and produced more nudes and arcadian images. They experimented heavily with the woodcut technique and invented the linocut. In 1911 Heckel is the first Brücke-artist to move to Berlin. The others will follow him soon. After moving to Berlin the isolation, the common style as well as the group’s ideology quickly belongs to the past. Too strong are the influences of the vibrant German capital on each of the artists. The group should disband in 1913, at the onset of World War I, due to artistic differences not only in style but also in ideology.

Kircher is now mostly attracted by the lively nightlife as well as by the movement of the people on the streets. Heckel instead is not being attracted by these short lasting impressions. He instead is more and more interested in the appearance of the world and its underlying rules. His work concentrates more and more upon the variety of landscape as well as on the emotions of the human being. In most of his titles one can now feel the strong personal sympathy felt for the agony of his sitters: The Pondering, The Tired, The Ill. The strong melancholy is not only characteristc for his work, but foremost for the life of most people in Germany during a time, which should soon be interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War.

Schlafendes Mädchen (Sleeping Girl) is being drawn at exactly this time. It shows a young girl sleeping in bed. She is lying on her side, so that the viewer can only see her in profile. Her arms are on top of the blanket, which covers the rest of her body. The sharp lines creating her profile as well as the dark hair and the dark jumper create a strong contrast to the white blanket and cushions. This contrast as well as the strong intimacy created by drawing the sitter from such close distance creates an outstanding dramatic expression.

Though the sadness and frustration of the people becomes increasingly apparent in his work at the time, the years 1912-1914 represent a rather happy and very productive time for the artist. By following his new ambitions Heckel establishes a more individual style and successfully explores the possibilities of drawing to an extent that no other Brücke-artist was even close to at the time. His work is characterized by a combination of strong self-confidence and sensitivity.