After the outbreak of war in 1915, Kirchner volunteered for military service and served with the 75th Mansfeld Mounted Field Artillery Regiment in Halle an der Saale. The artist soon wrote a desperate letter to his patron Karl Ernst Osthaus: “It is so terrible; one is merely tolerated, doing less than the least capable soldier, while one could be doing something meaningful here. The longing to work is driving me mad [...].” (Letter 251, October 25, 1915) The strict military training, focused on discipline and obedience, and the intense fear of the front lines had a very negative impact on Kirchner’s mental and physical health. After only a few months, Kirchner was discharged in very poor health and spared from deployment to the front. These few months—which were, however, traumatic for him—had an enormous impact on him and fundamentally changed his attitude toward the war after just a short time. He was in deep fear of being drafted again and suffered several nervous breakdowns. Making efforts to overcome his fears, he spent several months in various German and Swiss sanatoriums starting in 1916.

His works from this period now feature motifs drawn in part from his new surroundings in Halle an der Saale, inspired by his military experiences and the daily life of soldiers. At the center of some of these works are the powerful regimental horses, which offer the artist a certain comfort: “I have very little contact with the other soldiers, but I take great pleasure in grooming the horses. […] I love my horse so much that I would only part from him in tears.” (E. L. Kirchner, quoted from: Roman Norbert Ketterer, Gespräch mit Hans Fehr, in: R. N. Ketterer, Dialoge. Bildende Kunst. Kunsthandel, Stuttgart/Zurich 1988, p. 67)

The motif of the horseman can already be found in drawings, prints, and paintings from Kirchner’s “Brücke” period in Dresden and runs through his entire oeuvre right up to the late 1930s. In 1915, however, a brief, more concentrated, and intense artistic engagement with this motif can be observed in his work, particularly with the rider on a rearing horse, which appears that year in prints such as the striking lithograph “Rearing Horse with Rider” (Gercken 761, Dube L 307), one of Kirchner’s rare wood sculptures (“Rider on a Rearing Horse,” CR Henze, no. 1915/06), and a few drawings such as the detailed colored chalk drawing offered here.

The large-format sketch on the reverse side also appears on several photographs taken by Kirchner in his Berlin studio during a furlough in autumn 1915. They show the artist in military uniform next to a drawing of a single horse with a rider, which likely corresponds to the sketch on the reverse side of the work offered here: A mighty horse dominates the composition. The head of the impressive animal touches the upper edge of the canvas, and its forelegs nearly reach the right edge.

This vibrant and dynamic depiction was created during a period of great artistic achievement in Kirchner’s career. Several paintings with military themes created this year are among the most notable works in his oeuvre, including “Self-Portrait as a Soldier” (Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio) and “The Soldiers' Bath” (private collection). [CH]