The Bridge to Kirchner

While I am immersed in Expressionism, I thought I might dive a little deeper and see what other artists there were for me to discover. I thought: " I hope the artist I will pick won't be German because we have been twice to Germany this week!"
I should laugh. Actually I did laugh. Because you see when I came back to wikipedia to check about that painter I noticed yesterday, I thought: "ah man, he is German!"
Ludwig Ernst Kirchner's painting of Nollendorfplatz caught my eye.
Well of course he was bound to be German! Expressionism was originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century!

Again here there is the idea of the prime colour being at work. And the deformed angle of the angle as if we were watching the painting through a magnifying glass.
I really like this painting. I look at it and i am thinking:" Am I drunk?" and it is nice to have your perspective changed. This painting was made in 1912.
So where is Nollendorfplatz? Well apparently it is in Berlin. I have checked.










I am going to put another painting of his work. As he was a very productive artist. But I am only going to say a few words about the artist as I realised my posts are getting longer and longer. Like Church, Kirchner was also born in Bavaria. He was an architect before becoming a painter . He was one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th century art.
It is rather strange to hear when an artist volunteers to enrol in the army but that's what he did in the first World War. That wasn't a good idea because he had a nervous breakdown due to the insubordination and was discharged. He spent most of his life in Germany except for a few years in Switzerland. In 1933, Kirchner was labelled a "degenerate artist" by the Nazis and asked for his resignation from the Berlin Academy of Arts; in 1937, over 600 of his works were confiscated from public museums in Germany and were sold or destroyed. I can't even begin to imagine what it must have felt like to see many of your work and hours of your life, years of dedication and sweat being sold or destroyed. As a result in 1938, the psychological trauma of these events, along with the Nazi occupation of Austria, close to his home, led to his suicide. Sad. Very sad.

 Landscape under the Winter Moon-1919

1908- To the left, Knot of Girl with Green Divano reminds me of Edvard Munch's Symbolist style.

1912-1920 - To the right, Three Bathing to the Sea, reminds me of Picasso's Cubist style.

So much for a short post!