Author: Gregersen, Anne (ed.)
Title: Staging nature and life : the late works of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Jens Ferdinand Willumsen.
Description: Berlin : Hatje Cantz, [2020]. Paperback. 201 pp. color illustrations, portraits. 28 cm. Mailorder only - Alleen verzending mogelijk. Book condition : as new. - An exceptional talent, master of Expressionist art, cofounder of Die Bru¨cke group. Where Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's work is concerned, superlatives are basic. It is all the more surprising, therefore, that there has been little critical appraisal of one of the most important chapters in the painter's life and oeuvre. Besides his Expressionist acme, his imposing later-phase work deserves special attention and recognition. In exile in Davos, Kirchner again managed to produce an outstanding cycle of pictures, before committing suicide at the age of fifty-eight. Though continuing to use his inimitable style, he nevertheless invented something entirely new. Nature appears as an intoxicating space in intense colors, where the dignity of the human figure is negotiated in a dynamic aesthetic. The scholarly publication gives readers the complete picture in the context of another Expressionist living in a self-imposed exile during those 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 vitalist vision of painting from the 1910s-1930s. ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER (1880-1938) was a cofounder of the art group Die Bru¨cke (The Bridge) and is considered one of the major figures of German Expressionism. In 1917 he retreated to Davos, where he created his later work. J.F. WILLUMSEN (1863-1958) was one of the most versatile artists in Denmark. Throughout his long life he was passionately occupied by artistic questions. He expressed himself in all the media of the visual arts that were available to him, and he continually made new demands of his work. Exhibition: Willlumsens Museum, Frederikssund, Denmark (09.10.2020 - 31.01.2021)During World War I German artists Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) and Danish artist J.F. Willumsen (1863-1958) elected almost simultaneously to pursue their own individualistic projects and disassociate themselves from contemporary art movements. From 1917 the mountains of Switzerland became a refuge for Kirchner after a mental breakdown, whereas Willumsen settled in the South of France in 1916. Neither of them returned to their respective home countries, choosing instead to devote the rest of their lives to the pursuit of a personal, artistic vision in self-imposed exile. The juxtaposition of Kirchner and Willumsen provides a visually persuasive and intriguing perspective on an intense, colorful and individualistic concept of figurative painting from the 1910s-1930s, highlighting the similarities and connections between the two artists in terms of style, their view of art, and their identity as artists. Their late works were created in the wake of the sway of Expressionism, at a juncture when new avant-garde movements dominated the art scene. The artistic quest of Kirchner and Willumsen during this period followed a remarkably simliar path. Their paintings of people and mountains reflect the influence of the spread of the contemporary Vitalist movement in Europe, as well as the widespread influence of Friedrich Nietzsche. Both artists staged nature and people in nature in their paintings, but they also staged themselves as artists in an attempt to control the reception of their oeuvre and legacy through shameless self-mythologizing. ISBN 9783775746731.

Keywords: ART, Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig (1880-1938)