Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

This drawing by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner exhibits the simple and evocative use of form and color that powerfully enlivens his landscapes, Berlin street scenes, and scores of paintings and drawings of nudes. Though he worked from many of the same models as Erich Heckel and other German Expressionists, Kirchner’s most frequently depicted subject was his lifelong mistress, Erna Schilling, recognizable as the sitter for this drawing through her bobbed hair. Following his mental breakdown during the First World War, Kirchner moved to Davos, Switzerland, and Schilling followed, continuing to model for her partner. Her inelegant pose in this drawing reflects Kirchner’s enduring interest in depicting unstudied naturalism, while her outlined form and unusual coloring may attest to his new interest in the work of Picasso.