The Late Works of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Jens Ferdinand Willumsen : Staging Nature and Life

Kirchner’s late work in dialogue with a little-known Danish fellow expressionist

In exile in Davos, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938), cofounder of the Die Brücke group, managed to produce a stunning cycle of pictures before committing suicide at the age of 58. Nature, specifically the breathtaking mountains of the region, appears as an intoxicating space in intense colors where the dignity of the human figure is negotiated in a dynamic aesthetic.

This colorful volume is the first to allot critical appraisal of one of the most important chapters in Kirchner’s imposing later work. Kirchner’s bright fiery compositions are here placed in conjunction with another expressionist living in self-imposed exile during the same years: Danish painter J.F. Willumsen (1863–1958). The juxtaposition of Kirchner and Willumsen poses a visually persuasive and entirely new perspective on an intense, colorful and vital vision of painting from the 1910s–1930s.