Sale: 368 / Modern Art, June 12. 2010 in Munich Lot 52

 
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Sitzende am Tisch


52
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Sitzende am Tisch, 1932.
Chalk drawing
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,400
Sold:
€ 64,660 / $ 69,832

(incl. surcharge)

Chalk drawing and color pen
Signed in center of right margin. With estate stamp fo the Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570b) and the hand-written registration number "FS Da/Bi 5" on verso. On cardboard. 50,2 x 34,6 cm (19,7 x 13,6 in), size of sheet

This work is documented in the Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Archive Wichtrach / Bern.

PROVENANCE: Private collection southern Germany.

Kirchner studied architecture in Dresden where he met and worked with Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. After finishing his studies, however, he opposed his father's wishes and decided to become a painter. The intense artistic and intellectual relationship between the four artists soon led to the formation of the artist group 'Die Brücke', which, according to Schmidt-Rottluff, wanted to "attract all revolutionary and restless forces". The artists began to work on the ’Viertelstundenakte' (Fifteen Minute Nudes), drawings on nude models in the studio or in open nature. At first the group oriented itself to artists from Late Impressionism. The discovery of the Fauves, South Seas' art and van Gogh led the painters to Expressionism. Due to the encounter with Italian Futurist works, the group's painting style changed and became ‚tougher'. Kirchner studied the sculptures at the ethnological museum in Dresden, which influenced his own wood sculptures. In 1911 Kirchner moved to Berlin. Here Kirchner discovered new motifs – city and street scenes. He painted them in a simplified manner, with sharply contoured forms, expressive features and clashing colors. The city paintings became incunables of Expressionism and made Kirchner one of the most important German artists of the 20th century. The beginning of world war I and the following years were a turning point in his life. The war experiences and military service caused an existential angst and led to illness and long stays in sanatoriums. The more remarkable was his artistic production of that time. Works like the woodcut ’Frauen am Potsdamer Platz' , the ’Bilder zu Chamisso's Peter Schlemihl', the self-portraits and woodcut pictures from the sanatoriums, which are counted among the highlights of his œuvre, came into existence. In 1917 Kirchner settled in Frauenkirch near Davos. The city scenes were now replaced by mountain landscapes and scenes of rural life.

The dynamic and active line, which can be observed in all of Kirchner’s drawings, is also adding the decisive effect to this work. The limited array of forms, which Kirchner had acquired in the course of his artistic career, is effectively implemented in this composition, the model is subject to Kirchner’s canon of forms. Large color areas, accentuated by his line management, harmonize the composition, which finds completion in its somehow monumental set-up. The colors carry the surfaces. Kircher did not color, he created clear and solid statements. This drawing’s closeness is a wonderful example of Kirchner’s outstanding talent in drawing.

Around 1920 his painting style calmed down, his paintings had a carpet-like two dimensionality. Beside Kirchner also produced an extensive graphic work - wood cuts, lithographs and ink drawings. In 1923 Kirchner moved to the ‚Haus auf dem Wildboden' at the entrance of the Sertig Valley where he lived and worked until he committed suicide in 1938. [KD].




52
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Sitzende am Tisch, 1932.
Chalk drawing
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,400
Sold:
€ 64,660 / $ 69,832

(incl. surcharge)