Prints and Multiples

                                                               - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1921

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, a founding member of Die Brücke or The Bridge, is universally hailed as one of the most influential German artists of our time.  The members of Die Brücke,Kirchner,Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein,meant for their work to be a bridge from the art of their present day to the art of the future.  Founded in 1905, the group had disbanded by 1913, but their 8 years together heavily influenced the future of art and helped to lay the foundations of German Expressionism. 

In September of 1914, Kirchner volunteered for military service and by July of 1915 was discharged after having a mental breakdown.  In 1918, he moved to Davos, Switzerland to regain his health and he continued to live in the beautiful mountain village until the end of his life.  Although he still struggled with his mental health during this time, his paintings show a definitive influence of nature and often a sense of peacefulness in his existence.   

The Davos years were a time of great creative output for the artist.  His ability to isolate himself from the outside world allowed him to focus on his art, his exhibitions and promoting his own work with the help of his life partner, Erna Kirchner (née Schilling).  He was not, however, able to shut out the world completely.In 1937, twenty-five of Kirchner’s paintings were exhibited in the Nazi’s Degenerate Art exhibition and subsequently, the Academy of Arts in Berlin expelled Kirchner as a member.  Soon after, in June of 1938, partly out of the fear that the Nazis would invade Switzerland, Kirchner ended his own life. 

The exceedingly rare woodcut presented here embodies many of the quintessential themes of Kirchner’s work such as isolation and introspection.  It is presented in his instantly recognizable style of sharply carved shapes with deep contrasts and a richly inked block.  However, the ethereal, fantasy like world is clearly rooted in his Davos reality and is a slight departure from his other works of this period.Printed in 1924, you see clearly the influence of his voluntary exile into nature, but also the struggle with the outside world and how others’ perceptions become part of the complex construct of self. The mountains and lake offer the main subject the true reflection of himself.  The struggle of man with himself, man with man and man with nature are all clearly delineated in this heart-wrenchingly honest depiction of fame, celebrity and self-awareness.  One of only two known copies in existence, this woodcut, once in the collection of Lise Gujer, a local weaver who wove many of Kirchner’s designs into rugs throughout his time in Davos, represents a raw view into the mind of one of the 20th century’s most complex artists.