Two Sisters
Medium
Etching, from a zinc plate, in olive-green on white wove paper
Dimensions
Plate: 39.6 × 30.8 cm (15 5/8 × 12 3/16 in.); Sheet: 54.5 × 43 cm (21 1/2 × 16 15/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
60444
Art Historical Context
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's *Two Sisters* (1908) captures the raw emotional intensity of early German Expressionism. As a founding member of Die Brücke (The Bridge), a radical Dresden-based group formed in 1905, Kirchner rejected academic traditions in favor of distorted forms, vivid colors, and psychological depth to convey modern life's alienation. Created during his formative Dresden years, this etching likely depicts two female figures in intimate, introspective poses, reflecting the group's fascination with urban vitality and human connection amid industrial change. Printed from a zinc plate...
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...