Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1915)
Movements: Die Brücke Expressionism
Training: Konigliche Technische Hochschule in Dresden (studies architecture)
Influences: Fauvism, Van Gogh, Munch, Northern traditions (esp print-making)
Subject Matter: Cityscapes, female nudes in the studio & in nature, dancers
Early Years: 1905 founded Die Brücke w/fellow students Fritz Bleyl, Eric Heckel & karl Schmidt-Rottluff; communal artists studios & escapes to nature, bohemian
Training: Konigliche Technische Hochschule in Dresden (studies architecture)
Influences: Fauvism, Van Gogh, Munch, Northern traditions (esp print-making)
Subject Matter: Cityscapes, female nudes in the studio & in nature, dancers
Early Years: 1905 founded Die Brücke w/fellow students Fritz Bleyl, Eric Heckel & karl Schmidt-Rottluff; communal artists studios & escapes to nature, bohemian
1913-15: moved to Berlin. Here his sense of rebellion against the confining principles of academic painting and the rules of bourgeois society took a new turn, as the charged atmosphere and energy of the city was felt in an expression of acute perspectives, jagged strokes, dense angular forms, and caustic color. The street life in Berlin, in particular the familiar presence of prostitutes, identified by their elaborate plumed hats, captured Kirchner's eye and inspired the series of Street Scenes. These works exude the vitality, decadence, and underlying mood of imminent danger that characterized Berlin on the eve of WWI.
MOMA multimedia re: Kirchner exhibition & audio of symposium Street of Berlin (long)
MOMA multimedia re: Kirchner exhibition & audio of symposium Street of Berlin (long)
Key Works:
Street, Dresden, 1908-19, (fauvist influence)
Panama Dancers, 1910-11.
Self Portrait with Model, 1910
*Street, Berlin, 1913.
Self Portrait as a Soldier, 1915.
View of Davos with Church, 1925.
Street, Dresden, 1908-19, (fauvist influence)
Panama Dancers, 1910-11.
Self Portrait with Model, 1910
*Street, Berlin, 1913.
Self Portrait as a Soldier, 1915.
View of Davos with Church, 1925.
War Service: 1914 he volunteered for service, but soon suffered a breakdown & discharged.
Later years: spends time in various sanitoriums, going to Davos, Switzerland in 1917 where he stays for the rest of his life.
Degenerate Art: 1933 his work was branded as “degenerate” by the Nazis and in 1937 over 600 of his works were sold or destroyed. In 1938 he committed suicide.
re: Degenerate Art: see smarthistory video:
Supplementary reading:
Deutsche, Rosalyn. “Alienation in Berlin: Kirchener’s Street Scenes.” Art in America 71, no.1 (January 1983): 64-72.
Simmons, Sherwin. “Ernst Kirchner’s Streetwalkers: Art, Luxury and Immorality in Berlin, 1913-16.” Art Bulletin 82, no.1 (March 2000): 17-48.
Statements by Kirchner re: Die Brucke (2 pages)
excerpt from Ian Baruma, Faces of the Weimar Republic (8 pages)
re: Degenerate Art: see smarthistory video:
Supplementary reading:
Deutsche, Rosalyn. “Alienation in Berlin: Kirchener’s Street Scenes.” Art in America 71, no.1 (January 1983): 64-72.
Simmons, Sherwin. “Ernst Kirchner’s Streetwalkers: Art, Luxury and Immorality in Berlin, 1913-16.” Art Bulletin 82, no.1 (March 2000): 17-48.
Statements by Kirchner re: Die Brucke (2 pages)
excerpt from Ian Baruma, Faces of the Weimar Republic (8 pages)
Die BrÜke: Dresden 1905-1913
Key Figures: founded by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1954); and Fritz Bleyl, Eric Heckel & Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, joined by Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, Otto Mueller
Name: “The Bridge”, ref. Nietzche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1883
Manifesto: Program of the Brucke Artists’ Group (printed 1906), called on “all youth” to join and “obtain fredom of movement and of life.” Goals were “in opposition to older, well-established powers,” seeking to render art “directly and authentically.”
Name: “The Bridge”, ref. Nietzche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1883
Manifesto: Program of the Brucke Artists’ Group (printed 1906), called on “all youth” to join and “obtain fredom of movement and of life.” Goals were “in opposition to older, well-established powers,” seeking to render art “directly and authentically.”
Founded: in Dresden largely bohemian quasi-utopian idealism, painting nudes in nature, but by ’11 they’re in Berlin: dramatic shift to critical urban subject matter
per Gardner: German Expressionists sought expressiveness through distortions of form, ragged outline, and agitated brushstrokes. Under the leadership of Kirchner, [these artists] thought of themselves as paving the way for a more perfect age by bridging the old age to the new. From this concept, they derived their name Die Bruke.
Characteristics:
per Gardner: German Expressionists sought expressiveness through distortions of form, ragged outline, and agitated brushstrokes. Under the leadership of Kirchner, [these artists] thought of themselves as paving the way for a more perfect age by bridging the old age to the new. From this concept, they derived their name Die Bruke.
Characteristics:
- intense, arbitrary, unnaturalistic colors
- distorted forms and perspective
- urban subject matter
- emotional anxiety, crowded composition
- expressive color to effect social change or for social commentary
- Van Gogh, Matisse and Fauvism
- Edward Munch
- Medieval printmaking & Northern graphic tradition
- Non-European tribal arts/arts of the South Pacific ("primitivism")
Key Works:
Kirchner, Bathers Tossing Reeds, 1909
Kirchner, Bathers in a Room, 1910
Heckel, Sleeping Peckstein, 1910
Emil Nolde, Masks, 1911
Nolde, Last Supper, 1909
Kirchner, Judgment of Paris, 1912
Supplementary reading:
Die Brucke
Primitivism & Die Brucke
German Expressionism
Kirchner, Bathers Tossing Reeds, 1909
Kirchner, Bathers in a Room, 1910
Heckel, Sleeping Peckstein, 1910
Emil Nolde, Masks, 1911
Nolde, Last Supper, 1909
Kirchner, Judgment of Paris, 1912
Supplementary reading:
Die Brucke
Primitivism & Die Brucke
German Expressionism