Ornament from Kirchner Zeichnungen (Kirchner Drawings)
Medium
woodcut from a bound volume with 17 woodcuts (including title page and front and back covers) and three photomechanical relief prints (of drawings) on coated paper
Dimensions
book: 27 × 21 × 2 cm (10 5/8 × 8 1/4 × 13/16 in.)
Classification
Volume
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen
Accession Number
2012.92.627.3a
Art Historical Context
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, a pioneering German Expressionist and co-founder of the Die Brücke group, created *Ornament from Kirchner Zeichnungen (Kirchner Drawings)* in 1925. This woodcut is part of a remarkable bound volume that showcases 17 woodcuts—including the title page, front, and back covers—alongside three photomechanical relief prints reproducing his dynamic drawings on coated paper. Produced during Kirchner's later years in Davos, Switzerland, after the turmoil of World War I and personal struggles, the book reflects his enduring passion for capturing raw emotion and form through printm...
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...