Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Flashcards
What artistic movement did Kirchner lead?
The German Expressionist movement
What was Kirchner’s lifespan?
1880-1938
When was Kirchner persecuted, and by whom?
the Nazis in the 1930s
What was Kirchner’s childhood like?
He was born in Bavaria and spent his childhood in Switzerland and Germany; he enjoyed drawing/watercolor as a young child, but his parents didn’t want their son to become an artist.
How did Kirchner end up becoming an artist?
He moved to Dresden in 1901 to study architecture, which his parents approved of, but actually spent his time drawing/painting.
Where did Kirchner study art, and when?
Munich, 1903-04. This was important because he got the opportunity to take formal art classes.
Did Kirchner get an architecture degree?
Yes, in 1905; but he never actually pursued a career in architecture.
What group did Kirchner found?
Die Brücke (The Bridge) in Dresden in 1905 with Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Where did Kirchner and the Die Brücke artists set up a studio?
In a former butcher’s shop in 1906. They studied traditional and modern art with the goal of bridging the past and present through their work.
Where did Die Brücke relocated?
Berlin in 1911, but their styles began to diverge.
How did Die Brücke end up dissolving?
In 1913, Kirchner published “Chronik der Brücke” (Brücke Chronicle) in which he asserted his independence from the group and proposed that he alone was responsible for its innovations. Obviously, the other artists didn’t like this.
When was Kirchner conscripted into the military, and what ended up happening?
He was conscripted in 1915 and sent for training with the mounted artillery, but he had a mental breakdown and was released from service, and recovered at a sanatorium in Switzerland.
What art form was important to Kirchner’s recovery?
Painting.
What did Kirchner do after his treatment?
He settled in Davros, Switzerland, with his partner Erna Schilling, and his artistic subject matter shifted away from human figures and towards landscapes/animal life. He also sculpted in wood and created designs for tapestries.
What did Kirchner write about in the 1920s?
His theories of art.
