Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is a German Expressionist painter who was prominent in the early 20th century. He is known for his works that use intense colors and distorted forms to express human loneliness and anxiety, as well as criticism of society.

Biography of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Born on May 6, 1880 in Aschaffenburg, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire.
From 1901 to 1905 he studied architecture at the Dresden University of Technology.
In 1905, he founded the artist group "Die Brücke" ("The Bridge") in Dresden, and became a central figure in the Expressionist movement.
He moved to Berlin in 1911. He produced many works that dealt with the themes of the hustle and bustle and loneliness of city life.
During World War I, he enlisted in the army but suffered a nervous breakdown and was discharged. He spent his time recovering in Davos, Switzerland.
In 1933, the Nazi regime branded him a "degenerate artist" and removed his works from museums.
In 1937, many of his works were exhibited at the "Degenerate Art" exhibition in Munich.
On June 15, 1938, he committed suicide by shooting himself in Davos, Switzerland (aged 58).

Representative works

"Berlin Street" (1913)
Five Women (1913)
"Marcella" (1909/10)
Self-Portrait (1915)
Nudes in the Forest (1910)

Kirchner's works sharply express the hustle and bustle of the city, its loneliness, and human feelings of alienation and anxiety . He portrays human emotions and inner conflicts through distorted and deformed forms, rough brushstrokes, and intense colors .

After World War I, Kirchner continued to create while recuperating in Switzerland, but he suffered from neurosis and became increasingly lonely and anxious. In his later years, his works became more introverted and symbolic in nature.

With its powerful expression and deep depiction of the human psyche, Kirchner's work not only represents German Expressionism, but also had a major influence on 20th century art as a whole.