Head of Dr. Bauer
Medium
etching and drypoint printed in black with yellow monotype wiping
Dimensions
image: 19.3 x 16.3 cm (7 5/8 x 6 7/16 in.) sheet: 30.8 x 24.2 cm (12 1/8 x 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen
Accession Number
2012.92.452
Art Historical Context
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, a pioneering German Expressionist and co-founder of the Die Brücke group, created *Head of Dr. Bauer* in 1921 during his convalescence in the Swiss Alps. This intimate portrait captures Dr. Bauer, likely Kirchner's physician, amid the artist's post-World War I struggles with mental and physical health. Expressionism's raw emotional intensity shines through Kirchner's bold, angular lines, distorting features to convey inner turmoil and human vulnerability—a hallmark of the movement's rejection of academic realism. The work's medium—etching and drypoint printed in black w...
About the Artist
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1880–1938
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was born on May 6, 1880, in Aschaffenburg, Germany, to parents Ernst and Maria Kirchner, part of a family of Prussian descent that frequently relocated due to his father's career as a chemical technician. After early schooling in various towns, he studied architecture at the Königliche Technische Hochschule (Technical University) in Dresden from 1901 to 1905, taking courses i...