Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Overview

Ernst Ludwig Kircher studied architecture in Dresden where he met and worked with Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. After finishing his studies, however, he opposed his father´s wishes and decided to become a painter. The intense artistic and intellectual relationship between the four artists soon led to the formation of the artist group "Die Bruecke", which, according to Schmidt-Rottluff, wanted to "attract all revolutionary and restless forces." The artists began to work on the "Viertelstundenakte", drawings on nude models in the studio or in the open nature. At first the group oriented itself to artists from the late Impressionism. The discovery of the Fauves, South Seas art and van Gogh led the painters to Expressionism. Due to the encounter with Italian Futurist works, the group´s paintig style changed and became "tougher".Ernst Ludwig Kircher studied the sculptures at the Voelkerkundemuseum in Dresden, which influenced his own wood sculptures. In 1911 Kircher moved to Berlin. Here Kircner discovered new motifs - city and street scenes. He painted them in a simplified manner, with sharply contoured forms, expressive features and clashing colours. The city paintings became incunables of Expressionism and made Kircher on of the most important German artist of the 20th century.The beginnig of the world war I and the following years were a turning point in his life. The war experiences and military service caused an existential angst and led to illness and a long stay in sanatoriums. The more remarkable was his artistic production of that time. Works like the woodut "Frauen am Potsdamer Platz", the "Bilder zu Chamisso´s Peter Schlemihl", the self-portaits and woodcut pictures from the sanatoriums, which are counted amog the highlights of his work, came into existence. In 1917 Kirchner settled in Frauenkirch near Davos. The city scenes were now replaced by mountain Landscapes and scenes of rual life. Around 1920 his painting style calmed down, his paintings had a carpet-like two dimensionality. Beside Ernst Ludwig Krchner also produced an extensive graphic work, wood cuts, lithographs and ink drawings. In 1923 Kircher moved to the "Haus auf dem Wildboden" at the entrance of the Sertig Valley where he lived and worked until he committed siucide in 1938.