Davos
Ernst Ludwig KIRCHNER
(German, 1880-1938)
Davos
Dateca. 1924
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionsoverall: 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)
frame: 24 x 28 in. (61 x 71.1 cm)
ClassificationPAINTINGS
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Margaret P. Mallory
Object number1991.154.16
Subject(s)
- landscape
- buildings
Collection
- 20th century European
- European
Sub-Collection(s)
- Expressionism
- German
On View
Not on viewCollections
Label TextKirchner was a founding member of “Die Brücke,” a group of self-taught artists determined to break with traditional forms of visual representation to found a more immediately emotional kind of art. The group’s establishment in 1905 is now recognized as the beginning of German Expressionism. Kirchner would go on to a career in Berlin, using the urban streetwalker in his paintings and prints as a metaphor for the city’s greed-driven industrialism. Upon the outbreak of World War I, Kirchner volunteered for service, but suffered a mental and physical collapse that led to his discharge. After treatment in a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, he remained in the area, depicting the local scenery as seen in this verdant mountainscape that seems to burst with sunlight. In 1937, Kirchner’s works were included in the notorious “Degenerate Art” exhibition, staged by the Nazis. Sadly, he committed suicide the following year.
