Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was a German expressionist painter and printmaker who was one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th-century art. He volunteered for army service in the First World War, but soon suffered a breakdown and was discharged. His work was branded as "degenerate" by the Nazis in 1933, and in 1937 more than 600 of his works were sold or destroyed. Kirchner was born in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, on May 6, 1880. His parents were of Prussian descent and his mother was a descendant of the Huguenots, a fact to which Kirchner often referred. He attended schools in Frankfurt and Perlen until his father earned the position of Professor of Paper Sciences at the College of Technology in Chemnitz, where Kirchner attended secondary school. Although his parents encouraged his artistic career, they also wanted him to complete his formal education, so in 1901 he began studying architecture at the Royal Technical University of Dresden. There he became close friends with Fritz Bleyl, whom he met during the first term. They discussed art together and also studied nature, having a radical outlook in common. In 1905, Kirchner, along with Bleyl and two other architecture students, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Erich Heckel, founded the artists group Die Brücke. From then on, he committed himself to art. The group aimed to eschew the prevalent traditional academic style and find a new mode of artistic expression, which would form a bridge between the past and the present. They responded both to past artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald and Lucas Cranach the Elder, as well as contemporary international avant-garde movements. As part of the affirmation of their national heritage, they revived older media, particularly woodcut prints. Kirchner moved to Berlin in 1911, where he became a prominent figure in the artistic and cultural scene. He produced many scenes depicting city life, on the streets or in theatres and cabarets. He also experimented with sculpture and photography. He developed a distinctive style of expressionism that was influenced by African and Oceanic art, as well as by Fauvism and Cubism. His use of vibrant colors, distorted forms and dynamic compositions conveyed his emotional response to modern urban life. Kirchner's life and work were severely affected by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. He volunteered for army service as a driver but soon suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized. He was diagnosed with neurasthenia and discharged from the army in 1915. He returned to Berlin but found it difficult to resume his artistic career. He suffered from depression, anxiety and drug addiction. He moved to Switzerland in 1917, hoping to recover from his mental and physical ailments. He settled in Davos, where he painted landscapes and rural scenes that reflected his longing for harmony and peace. In 1933, after the Nazis came to power in Germany, Kirchner's work was labeled as "degenerate" and banned from public exhibition. He was expelled from the Prussian Academy of Arts, which he had joined in 1931. In 1937, more than 600 of his works were confiscated from German museums and some were displayed in the infamous Degenerate Art Exhibition in Munich. Some were sold or destroyed by the Nazis. As his works were branded degenerate in Nazi Germany, Kirchner's nervous condition and loneliness returned. He committed suicide on June 15, 1938, at a time when his style seemed once again to be changing. He shot himself in the heart near his home in Frauenkirch-Wildboden, Davos. He was buried at the Waldfriedhof Cemetery in Davos. Kirchner is widely regarded as one of the most influential and original German expressionists. His work had a significant impact on the development of modern art in the 20th century. He was a prolific and versatile artist who explored various media and techniques. He created more than 3,000 paintings, 15,000 drawings and watercolors, and 1,000 prints. He also wrote poems, essays and letters. His work is characterized by its expressive intensity, vivid colors, dynamic forms and personal symbolism. He captured the spirit of his time and place with his unique vision and style.