Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Famous representative of Expressionism
To Davos as a seeker of healing
Kirchner sought healing in Davos in 1917. Here, the most famous representative of Expressionism continued his extensive work. He painted farmers at work and visionary landscapes that capture the overwhelming impression of the Alpine landscape.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was born in 1880 in Aschaffenburg, Germany. After studying architecture in Dresden, he founded the artists' community "Brücke" with his friends Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. In 1911 Kirchner moved to Berlin. Then came the turning point: in 1913 the friendship between the "Brücke" artists broke up and during his training as a soldier Kirchner suffered a breakdown. After hospital stays in Königstein im Taunus and Kreuzlingen on Lake Constance, he sought healing in Davos in 1917. Here he continued his extensive work. In the following years he reached the first high point of his creativity with his expressive works.
«Nobody has these colors like me»
As a trained architect, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner knew very well how to handle the painting surface on his canvases. His large-scale, colorful expressive painting was his trademark. A style that Kirchner gave a very personal, figurative and objectifying touch. The richness of color and the radiance of Kirchner's paintings, his expressive figure paintings and city scenes, the majestic Davos mountain landscapes and the abstract late works still inspire today.
Kirchner Museum Davos
Davos honors most of Kirchner's works of art in its Kirchner Museum, donated by art dealer Roman Norbert Ketterer. The architecture of the Kirchner Museum in Davos supports the intention of bringing people and art together. The crystalline building represents the architectural counterpart to Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's art.
