The artist was born on 6 May in the town of Aschaffenburg on the Bavarian land. The father of Ernst Kirchner was a chemical engineer. Parents supported his desire to become an architect.
1880 - 1938
A German painter, graphic artist and sculptor, a representative and theorist of the first in Germany association of expressionist “Bridge” (“Die Brücke”, Dresden-Berlin), a participant in the “New Secession”.
639 works of the artist were removed from the galleries and museums of Germany being ranked as “degenerative art”. 25 of them were included in the exhibition of “degenerates”; hundreds of works were destroyed by the Nazis. The E. Kirchner Museum was opened in 1992 near Davos, where the artist lived for over 20 years; there is a collection of more than 1,400 paintings by the famous Expressionist.
Key ideas:
– E. Kirchner entered the history of painting as the founder of one of its most noticeable phenomena – Expressionism. It is no coincidence that art historian N. Wolf claimed that “the work of Kirchner is superior to other artists of the 20th century in terms of emotional intensity.”
– His canvases are distinguished by bright colors, the strongest dramatic tension created by angular contours. The human figure was central to the art of Kirchner. This was important both for the theme (the bohemian life of the creative community) and for the interior of his studio, where paintings served as a background to reflect the activities of the Bridge group created by him and his comrades.
– Works created in the era of Die Brucke illustrate the energetic atmosphere of meetings in the workshop. Kirchner creates works with expressive, dynamic lines, as if aggressively cutting out large areas of light and darkness and comparing them. Contrasts reinforce the sense of spatial depth on a two-dimensional surface.
– Portrait images of the early period are provocative, as the painting Marcella (1909) vividly demonstrates. The youth of the model’s body, almost a girl, combined with her gaze, gives her the look of supernatural maturity. Unnatural colors also give the composition some anxiety – the viewer cannot decide, what feelings the naked female causes. This painting is an example of a quick sketch technique used by members of the Bridge, who believed that this could capture the “soul” of the subject.
– The second important topic is the images of cities, mainly Berlin. Kirchner depicted crowds of people with bold, energetic strokes of bright colors — blue, green, orange, pink, and purple planes on canvases. The perspective was often distorted; the figures moved and oscillated either towards or in the image plane. For the artist, this was a rejection of academism, which was studied at the Faculty of Architecture.
– Usually, Kirchner depicted figures in motion, as he was convinced that it best expresses the fullness of life and the emotions of the human body. The famous canvas “The Street, Berlin” depicts posh expensive prostitutes who, like the men surrounding them on a narrow oblique street, have faces given in profile and at an angle, as if the characters do not want to be recognized. Luxurious and disquieting painting serves as a commentary on the culture of German society before the First World War, growing political tension.
– Gradually, Kirchner developed his own system of methods and painting manner. The quick and tough use of the line creates a sense of the immediacy and transience of the plot, capturing its fussy essence. A clash of blue and yellow is characteristic of the Kirchner style, depicting the urban landscape. It tends to the planar interpretation of objects, their obligatory deformation.
– Landscape scenes in the work of Ernst are also far from idyllic moods – they have anxiety caused by uncertainty and the feeling of interrupted connection of epochs. The mature master depicts nature less often; his style becomes closer to abstraction. “A painter draws the appearance of things, but in fact creates new manifestations of things, the artist argued.”
1880
1901
1903 - 1905
1905 - 1906
1907 - 1908
1909 - 1911
1913
1914
1917 - 1920
1920
1930
1937 - 1938
1938
The artist was born on 6 May in the town of Aschaffenburg on the Bavarian land. The father of Ernst Kirchner was a chemical engineer. Parents supported his desire to become an architect.
After graduating from a high school in Chemnitz, he entered the Faculty of Architecture of the Dresden Technical Graduate School, where he met F. Bleyl, who had radical views on art. The friends decided to leave the architecture and devote themselves to the visual arts.
Entered the Higher Technical School in Munich, attended the experimental workshop of free and applied art of von Debshits and Obrist. However, two years later, he returned to Dresden and finally received an architecture degree.
Together with three friends from the faculty of architecture (Bleyl, Heckel and Schmidt-Rottluff), he formed the group “Bridge” (Die Brücke), which marked the beginning of the formation of German Expressionism. As an ideologue of the group, Kirchner formulated the general concept of this creative union, which rejected Materialism, Realism, Impressionism and Art Nouveau (Modern). The following year he wrote the program. The members of the “Bridge” held their first group exhibition at the lamp factory.
Worked with M. Pechstein in Goppeln near Dresden; a year later worked on the island Fehmarn. The first portraits of the artist appeared, where his model was his lover – Doris Grosse (Dodo). He got carried away with a new circus theme and variety show, which he then developed for several years.
He drew a lot on Moritzburg ponds, became a member of the “New Secession”. He moved to Berlin, where he founded the Institute of Contemporary Painting Teaching (ICPT) with M. Pechstein. Started a relationship with Erna Schilling, who became his common-law wife. A new theme appears in his painting – the life of the streets of a big city, as well as people that determine the appearance of the capital.
“The Chronicle of the Die Brücke art group”, created by the artist, led to the disintegration of the group, because his friends did not agree with the interpretation of their own role in the activity of the “Bridge”; as a result of a quarrel, Kirchner left the group.
Participated in an art exhibition in Cologne; volunteered for the front. However, he was soon removed from service with a diagnosis of “psychosis”, and then was transferred to the reserve. The “bloody carnival” of the war was reflected in such a significant work as “The soldier’s self-portrait”.
Moved to Switzerland; settling near Davos, began to paint alpine landscapes in an Expressionist style. In Germany and Switzerland, he organized exhibitions of his works.
Started co-working with Lisa Guyer; in Basel, a large exhibition of his works was held. The artist created illustrations for the poetic book “Umbra Vitae” by George Heim. He made a trip to several cities in Germany. Received an order for the creation of frescoes in the Folkwang Museum (1927). He was invited to the Venice Biennale in 1928.
Became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts (Berlin); his retrospective exhibition took place (Bern, 1933). The new authorities harshly criticized the art of the master, confiscated his works and the works of all his “Bridge” comrades from the museums. It gave artist extreme pain, because his main goal was the development of German art and he considered his work its quintessence.
639 works of the artist, ranked among the “degenerate art”, were removed from museums. 25 of them were on display at the exhibition; much of the canvases were destroyed.
On June 15, 1938 – The physically and mentally unhealthy master committed suicide at his home in the Frauenkirche, Switzerland. Erna Schilling, his common-law wife, received permission to take the surname Kirchner.
flow
Post-Impressionism
Fauvism
friends
Fritz Bleil
Karl Schmidt-Rottluf
artists
Edward Munch
Henri Matisse
Vincent Van Gogh
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Matthias Grunewald
Albrecht Durer
flow
Abstract expressionism
friends
Otto Muller
Erich Heckel
artists
Jackson Pollock
Mark Rothko
Jörg Immendorf