Kirchner and the Berlin Street - Hardcover

Wye, Deborah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0870707418 ISBN 13: 9780870707414

Publisher: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2008

Synopsis

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's remarkable series of paintings known as the Berlin Street Scenes is a highpoint of the artist's work and a milestone of German Expressionism. Kirchner moved from Dresden to Berlin in 1911, and it was there, immersed in the vitality of a teeming city and under the looming shadow of imminent world war, that he created the Street Scenes in a burst of creative energy and ambition. Berlin was at this time undergoing rapid growth, and as Kirchner absorbed the crowds and energy of city life, his work responded with acute perspective, jagged brushstrokes and searing color. As the most extensive consideration of these paintings in English, this richly illustrated volume examines the creative process undertaken by the artist as he explored his themes through various media and presents a major body of related work including drawings, pen-and-ink studies, pastels, etchings, woodcuts and lithographs. It also investigates the significance of the streetwalker as the dominant motif of this series, and provides insight on its relationship to Kirchner's wider oeuvre.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) was one of German Expressionism's foremost practitioners. His painterly aesthetic was formed within the Brüche group, in Dresden, where he was one among a number of artists rebelling against bourgeois life and the stale conventions of the academy. Kirchner made his Street Scenes series immediately following the dissolution of Brüche. Today he is increasingly recognized as one of the major figures in the early development of Modern art.

About this title

About the Author:

Deborah Wye is the Chief Curator in the Department of Prints and illustrated books at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Review:

Those who missed the show can see [Kirchner's paintings, drawings, and wood-cuts] beautifully reproduced in the MoMA catalog. Informative and clearly written. --The New York Review of Books, December 4, 2008

About this edition

• Publisher: The Museum of Modern Art, New York
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0870707418
• ISBN 13: 9780870707414
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 138