Am Brunnen trinkender Bauer. 1937.
India Ink and black chalk.
With estate stamp of Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570b) and with registration number "K Da/Bc 147" on verso. On firm paper. 49,8 x 36,8 cm (19,6 x 14,4 in), size of sheet.
This is a preliminary study for the oil painting "Junger Bauer aus einer Quelle im Wald trinkend".
With an almost full-sheet figure composition "Liebespaar" from 1929 in black chalk on verso.

PROVENANCE: Private collection Southern Germany.

After he had moved to Davos new motifs entered the focus of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. He discovered the rural surroundings and the farmers and finds new means of artistic interpretation. It was not only the subjects that Kircher opened up, he also faced technical challenges. The simple life of mountain farmers became increasingly fascinating and these motifs soon inspired him so much that everything he had created earlier seems to recess behind it. The farmer drinking from the well is a motif of this type. On the one and it shows Kirchner's talent for the figurative composition and at the same time it forces a particular make upon the artist, a make in line with the simple rural subject and with attention to detail. The powerful motion in our sheets is underlined by the striking strokes of the brush, their poised and scarce handling document Kirchner's great technical mastery in drawing. [KD].