Kirchner and the Berlin Street

This exhibition is a focused investigation of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s renownedBerlin Street Scenes of 1913-1915, bringing together the seven major paintings in this series. These works are considered not only the highpoint of Kirchner’s career, but also a milestone in German Expressionism, generally. Kirchner, known as a member of the Brücke artists’ group, had moved in 1911 from Dresden to Berlin, a teeming metropolis and the major cultural center of Germany. Here, his Expressionist painting took a new turn and the charged atmosphere of the city was reflected in acute perspectives, jagged strokes, dense angular forms, and caustic color. His focus in this series is on the streetwalker, serving as a symbol of the contradictions of modern city life, with energy, excitement, and nighttime glamour, as well as loneliness, decadence, and danger. The fact that this atmosphere was captured on the eve of World War I only adds to the high-pitched tensions embodied in these paintings. For the purpose of contextualizing the Street Scene series, the exhibition will explore Kirchner’s choice of motif through contrasting examples of his work, including more typical city views and also his various approaches to the eroticized female figure in nudes and cabaret dancers. In addition, Kirchner’s creative process will be examined as he clarified his subject matter and developed the expressive means for these paintings. Included are notebook sketches, larger scale works in pen-and-ink, charcoal and pastel, as well as etchings, woodcuts and lithographs, all on the Street Scene theme. Together, the exhibition will include nearly 80 works on paper serving to further our understanding of this great series of paintings. Organized by Deborah Wye, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Chief Curator of Prints and Illustrated Books, The Museum of Modern Art. Accompanied by a fully illustrated, 160-page catalogue with text by Ms. Wye. The exhibition is made possible by Mrs. Stephen M. Kellen and by Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III. Major support is provided by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Kirchner and the Berlin Street

Kurator: Deborah Wye