529 - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880, Aschaffenburg – Frauenkirch/Davos, 1938)

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880, Aschaffenburg – Frauenkirch/Davos, 1938) Nude in Space Watercolor, gouache, and pencil on stiff vellum. (Circa 1914). Approx. 55.5 x 39.5 cm. Titled “Nude in Space” and inscribed on the reverse by another hand. The work is registered in the Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Archive, Wichtrach/Bern, under the number “3407.” • “Typical” of Kirchner in its use of watercolor technique • Nude drawing characterized by the interplay of color and dynamic line work • Created in 1914, a fateful year for Kirchner and the entire world “Nude in Space” dates from a time of upheaval in Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s life—yet reveals nothing of it. With a nimble brush, the artist applies the watercolors side by side and into one another, filling the space and creating a nude in half-profile within a space that is indefinable yet highly colorful. The result is a joyful painting that embodies Kirchner’s typical characteristics. But in 1914, World War I began, an event that would change the world on a scale never seen before. No one remained unaffected; for Kirchner and his contemporaries, this meant fundamental upheavals in their lives. In very concrete terms, the outbreak of war initially had a seemingly trivial effect on Kirchner and his partner Erna Schilling: they had to cut their vacation short. For several years, the two had enjoyed spending a great deal of time on the island of Fehmarn. There they stayed with the Lüthmanns, with whom they had already formed a friendship by 1914. On the island, Schilling and Kirchner enjoy a simple life close to nature. They are interested in topics such as lifestyle reform and naturism—an escape from the rigid constraints of societal norms in the German Empire. Do they know that they will never return to Fehmarn? On their journey home, the two are suspected of espionage; although the suspicion is eventually cleared, it leaves Kirchner traumatized, further straining his already fragile psyche. Exhibition: Carus Gallery, New York 1980; Expressionist Drawings and Watercolors, Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York 1980, cat. no. 11; Expressionists 2: Watercolors, Drawings, Oil Paintings, Galerie Ilse Schweinsteiger, Munich 1982, cat. no. 58; German Expressionists, Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York, 1984–1986; Drawings and Watercolors of German Expressionism, Städtische Galerie Bietigheim-Bissingen, among others, 1990/91; Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee & Oskar Kokoschka: Watercolors and Drawings, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 1993/94. Provenance: Artist’s estate, marked on the reverse with the Basel stamp (Lugt 1570b) and the handwritten registration number “A Be/Bg 16,” as well as the notations “K 3780” and “340y”; Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, May 28–29, 1979, Lot 614; Collection/Estate of Serge Sabarsky, New York, acquired from the aforementioned; Collection/Foundation of Vally Sabarsky, New York. Taxation: subject to regular taxation (VAT: Regular Taxation).