Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Expressionist painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) co-founded Die Brücke ("The Bridge"), the radical artists' group that launched German Expressionism. Born in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, he studied architecture at Dresden Technical High School starting in 1901, where he met Fritz Bleyl, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and Erich Heckel. Together, they formed Die Brücke in 1905, aiming to create a "bridge" between classical motifs and the avant-garde. The group revived older media, particularly woodcut prints, responding to German masters like Albrecht Dürer while drawing inspiration from Edvard Munch and African art. Kirchner's mature style became known for its psychological tension, bold colors, and angular forms.

Kirchner moved to Berlin in 1911, where the modern city's energy and chaos became his primary subject. His street scenes of prostitutes and urban crowds captured the nervous intensity of pre-war Berlin with jagged brushwork and electric colors. He volunteered for army service in World War I but suffered a breakdown and was discharged. After recovering in Switzerland, his later landscapes showed humans at peace with nature, a stark contrast to his frenetic city paintings. The Nazis branded his work "degenerate" in 1933, and in 1937 they seized or destroyed more than 600 of his pieces. Deeply disturbed by Germany's annexation of Austria and fearing an invasion of Switzerland, Kirchner took his own life in June 1938. Today, the Brücke-Museum in Berlin holds the most comprehensive collection of his work, with additional pieces at the Museum of Modern Art and the Tate.