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| QUICK LINKS: Japanese Theatre, Kirchner Singer (in a green dress), Nolde Kopf (The Head), Nolde Berlin Street Scene, Kirchner | White Dancer in a Cabaret, Kirchner St Francis, Schmidt-Rottluff |
Die Brücke (The Bridge) was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905.
Founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later members were Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein and Otto Mueller.
The seminal group had a major impact on the evolution of modern art in the 20th century and the creation of expressionism. The group came to an end around 1913. The Brücke Museum in Berlin was named after the group.
[Source: Wikimedia commons]
[1565-10]
  Image source: nationalgalleries.org | This is one of Kirchner’s first paintings to depict a stage scene. It shows actors from a Japanese theatre company performing at Dresden’s Albert Theatre. Theatre and cabaret scenes were extremely popular among the Brücke expressionist group. The artist’s unusual viewpoint, looking down on the actors from a side angle, suggests that he may have seen the play from a theatre box. Kirchner saw an exhibition of Matisse paintings in December 1908, and this painting shows the influence of Matisse’s flat areas of anti-naturalistic colour. [Source: nationalgalleries.org] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Japanese Theatre | 1909 | Oil/Canvas | Genre Painting |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig | 1880-1938, aged 58 | German painter | Die Brücke/ Expressionism |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1565-11] | |
| National Galleries Scotland | 114 x 114 |
| Emil Nolde was one of the greatest colourists of the twentieth century. While he was passionate about his north German home near the Danish border with its immense skies, flat, windswept landscapes and storm-tossed seas, he was equally fascinated by the demi-monde of Berlin’s cafés and cabarets. Nolde is considered one of Germany’s greatest expressionist artists. [Source: nationalgalleries.org] |   Image source: arthive |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Singer (in a green dress) | 1910-11 | Watercolour/Paper | Portrait |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Nolde, Emil | 1867-1956, aged 89 | German painter | Die Brücke/ Expressionism |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1565-12] | |
| Museum of the Nolde Foundation and the Ada and Emil Nolde, Neukirchen | 33 x 28 |
  Image source: nationalgalleries.org | Nolde was interested in art from the African continent, the Pacific and the Americas. He made frequent visits to the Ethnographic Museum in Berlin to study and draw the sculptures and objects of various global cultures held there. He also spent a year painting in New Guinea. It was originally thought that this picture was painted during his time there. However, it is more likely that it was done before his departure, in preparation for the style of painting he expected to make on the trip. [Source: nationalgalleries.org] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Kopf (The Head) | 1913 | Oil/Canvas | Portrait |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Nolde, Emil | 1867-1956, aged 89 | German painter | Die Brücke/ Expressionism |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1565-13] | |
| National Galleries Scotland | 78 x 67 |
  Image source: Wikimedia commons |
| Berlin Street Scene is a painting from the cycle Street scenes, by the German Expressionist artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. It was created in 1913 the cycle (up to 1915) often depicts “Kokotten” (prostitutes) with their clients. The overall cycle is dubbed to be one of the most important works of German Expressionism. [Source: Wikimedia commons] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| Berlin Street Scene (Cycle Street Scenes) | 1913 | Oil/Canvas | Genre Painting |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig | 1880-1938, aged 58 | German painter | Die Brücke/ Expressionism |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1565-14] | |
| 121 x 95 |
| This scene shows a group of men seated at a table in a cabaret club, their hats and coats hung up on the wall. The dancer is so close to them that they seem to have to lean back to avoid her high kick. The angular style of the lithograph is typical of German expressionist works of this period. Kirchner was a prolific printmaker, although he usually made just a few impressions of each piece as he liked to print his work himself. Only one other impression of this rare lithograph is thought to exist. [Source: nationalgalleries.org] |   Image source: nationalgalleries.org |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| White Dancer in a Cabaret (Weisse Tänzerin in Kleinem Variété) | 1914 | Paper/Lithograph | Genre Painting |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig | 1880-1938, aged 58 | German painter | Die Brücke/ Expressionism |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | [1565-15] | |
| National Galleries Scotland | 60 x 50 |
  Image source: MOMA | In direct contrast to Dürer’s sophisticated and detailed use of the medium of woodcut, Schmidt-Rottluff, one of a group of young men in Dresden who called themselves Die Brucke (The Bridge), was interested in the direct, rough carving of the wood block as an expression of vitality. Schmidt-Rottluff’s print is reminiscent of African masks; a monumental, rough-hewn image of the saint. [Source: nationalgalleries.org] |
| TITLE: | YEAR: | FORM: | GENRE: |
| St Francis (Heiliger Franziskus) | 1919 | Woodcut/Paper | History Painting |
| ARTIST: | DATES: | ORIGIN: | MOVEMENT: |
| Schmidt-Rottluff, Karl | 1884-1976, aged 89 | German painter | Die Brücke/ Expressionism |
| LOCATION: | SIZE (cms): | ||
| National Galleries Scotland | 60 x 49 |
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