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Reclining Nude
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, 1880–1938)
1909
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
74 x 151.5 cm (29 1/8 x 59 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Tompkins Collection—Arthur Gordon Tompkins Fund
Accession Number57.2
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
In 1905 Kirchner was among the founders of an idealistic artistic brotherhood in Dresden called The Bridge (Die Brücke). Inspired by the intensity of Vincent van Gogh's vision of nature, Paul Gauguin's arbitrary color, and the expressive distortion of the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, these young artists and others developed a powerful style now known as German Expressionism. This nude embodies the Expressionist ideal - brilliant, exaggerated color; a deliberate roughness of texture; and the freshness of a sketch retained in the finished work.
InscriptionsLower left: E.L Kirchner 09
ProvenancePossibly Alfred Flechtheim or the Galerie Flechtheim [see note 1]. 1935, possibly Galerie Dr. Schumann, Frankfurt; 1935, possibly sold by Schumann to Christoph Ris (b. 1865 - d. 1947), Zurich; given to his sister, Elisabeth Ris (b. 1872 - d. 1959), Zurich; 1953, sold by Miss Ris to Dr. Hermann Ganz, Zurich [see note 2]; January 1955, sold by Ganz to Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London; February 19, 1955, one-half share sold by Roland, Browse and Delbanco to Marlborough Fine Art, Ltd., London; April 8, 1957, remaining one-half share sold by Roland, Browse and Delbanco to Marlborough [see note 3]; 1957, sold by Marlborough to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 10, 1957)
NOTES:
[1] "Flechtheim" appears to be written in pencil on the back of the painting stretcher. Whether it was actually owned by Alfred Flechtheim or the Galerie Flechtheim (which had galleries in Düsseldorf, Berlin, Cologne and Frankfurt) is not known.
[2] This information comes from a letter from Hermann Ganz to Thomas N. Maytham of the MFA (February 27, 1957); according to Dr. Ganz, Elisabeth Ris received the painting from her brother. He had purchased "some paintings" at the Galerie Schumann in 1935, but Miss Ris did not know if the Kirchner painting was among them. It was certainly in her possession by 1948, when she lent it to the Kunsthaus, Zurich ("Sammlung deutscher Expressionisten," August 20 - September 15, 1948, cat. no. 189, as "Liegende"). Many thanks to Joachim Sieber of the Kunsthaus for clarifying Christoph Ris's name and life dates.
[3] The information about the transactions between Roland, Browse and Delbanco and Marlborough Fine Arts, Ltd., was provided by Carol Togneri, Research Scholar, Norton Simon Museum on November 4, 2002.
NOTES:
[1] "Flechtheim" appears to be written in pencil on the back of the painting stretcher. Whether it was actually owned by Alfred Flechtheim or the Galerie Flechtheim (which had galleries in Düsseldorf, Berlin, Cologne and Frankfurt) is not known.
[2] This information comes from a letter from Hermann Ganz to Thomas N. Maytham of the MFA (February 27, 1957); according to Dr. Ganz, Elisabeth Ris received the painting from her brother. He had purchased "some paintings" at the Galerie Schumann in 1935, but Miss Ris did not know if the Kirchner painting was among them. It was certainly in her possession by 1948, when she lent it to the Kunsthaus, Zurich ("Sammlung deutscher Expressionisten," August 20 - September 15, 1948, cat. no. 189, as "Liegende"). Many thanks to Joachim Sieber of the Kunsthaus for clarifying Christoph Ris's name and life dates.
[3] The information about the transactions between Roland, Browse and Delbanco and Marlborough Fine Arts, Ltd., was provided by Carol Togneri, Research Scholar, Norton Simon Museum on November 4, 2002.