Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig

The artist or painter of such artworks as 'Self-potrait with a model', 'Five Women in the Street' and 'Berlin Street Scene' was Kirchner - a major impressionest.

Influenced by wood carvings and sculptures from Africa and Australia he used the same strong colours almost always. His thick lines and clashing colours express a sense of violence or hatred.

He funded and became a member of an artists group called 'Die Brück', a group especially for expressionist artists, in 1905.

Kirchner's work often concentrates on people who seem nice but bringinmg out the real cruelty.

In 1911 Kirchner moved to Berlin where he did some of his (and possibly even some of Germany's) most famous expressionist works. 'Five Women in the Street' is a good example. It is a strong painting showing the artifitial manners of some people. People who pretend to be polite instead of meaning it...if you understand.

In the late 1920s Kirchner's paintings became more and more abstract, but he went back to his original style in the early 1930s.

Unfortunatley in 1938, just before World War 11, they confiscated , and it is thought burned, 600 of Kirchner's paintings.

Soon afterward Kirchner commited suicide.

Related Picture (picture of Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig)

Related Picture (picture of 'Berlin Street Scene')

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