Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, 1880–1938), Street at Schöneberg City Park, 1912–13. Oil on canvas, 47 5/8 × 59 3/8 in. (120.97 × 150.81 cm). Milwaukee Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Harry Lynde Bradley. M1964.55. Photo: John R. Glembin.
When the German Expressionist artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner arrived in Berlin from Dresden in 1911, he was immediately impressed with the energy of the city. In this view of an urban intersection bordering a park, Kirchner concentrated on the plunging depth and distorted panoramic sweep of the wide streets and grand, arcaded buildings that frame a scattering of fashionable pedestrians. Rather than focusing on the park as a motif, the artist made a dynamic composition about urban space. The attitude of embracing modernity that characterizes the painting was prominent in Kirchner’s life as well as his art. A member of the avant-garde German group Brücke (Bridge), Kirchner was dedicated to capturing the people and places of his own time and rendering them in expressive modes that were altogether new.
Excerpt from Collection Guide: Milwaukee Art Museum. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Museum, 2004, pp. 48, 72, cat. 79.
