Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte: Kämpfe. Qualen der Liebe (Peter Schlemihl's Wondrous Story: Battles. The Agonies of Love)
Medium
color woodcut from two blocks on wove paper
Dimensions
block: 33.2 x 21.8 cm (13 1/16 x 8 9/16 in.) sheet: 40.9 x 35 cm (16 1/8 x 13 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
New Century Fund and Gift of Ruth and Jacob Kainen
Accession Number
1999.68.4
Art Historical Context
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's *Peter Schlemihls wame Geschichte: Kämp. Qualen der Liebe (Peter Schlemihl's Wondrous Story: Battles The Agonies of Love created in 1915, draws from Adelbert von Chamisso fantastical 1814 novella about a man who sells his to the devil. As a leading figure in the German Expressionist group Die Brücke, Kirchner intense emotional turmoil through bold, distorted forms and vivid colors, reflecting the anxieties of World War I and his own struggles with mental health during this period. This color woodcut, printed from two blocks on wove paper (block: 33.2 x 21.8 cm; sheet: ...
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...