Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Born: Aschaffenburg, Germany 1880.
Died: Davos, Switzerland 1938.
German expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner met Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-rottluff while studying architecture at Dresden from 1901-1905. The three founded Die Brucke in 1905- Kirchner was the dominant force behind the group, which lasted until 1913. Inspired by Gauguin, Munch, van Gogh and primitive art, the Brucke artists were concerned with the direct expression of human emotions. Kirchner developed an angular style that used simplified drawing and bold juxtapositions of complementary colour - a clashing mix of orange, blue, red, yellow and green.
Aside from his paintings, he also produced woodcuts and coloured wooden sculpture. He moved to Berlin in 1911, where he painted a series of distorted street scenes, depicting the frenzy and chaos of urban life. The red tower of the title is the focal point of an intense, exciting image. The sloping roofs and slanting streets, brought up against the picture plane in sharp, distorted perspective add a dizzying sense of urgency to the picture.
Kirchner suffered a nervous breakdown while serving in the First World War. He convalesced in Switzerland, producing work that drew upon the elemental force of the Alpine landscape, and which became more abstract after 1928. Kirchner committed suicide in 1938.
Masterpieces:
The red tower in Halle.
Striding into the sea.
Berlin street scene.
text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Images: google images.