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An image of Three bathers by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

(Germany 1880–1938)

Title
Three bathers
Other titles:
Bathers
Girls bathing
Alternative title:
Drei Badende Feldafing
Year
1913
Media category
Painting
Materials used
oil on canvas
Dimensions

197.5 x 147.5cm stretcher; 215.2 x 165.0 x 6.5cm frame

Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
Credit
Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation Purchase 1984
Accession number
158.1984
Location
Modern gallery
Further information

As one of the founding artists of 'Die Brücke' group in 1905, Kirchner is essential to the history of German expressionism, a movement he virtually personifies. Trained in Munich and Dresden, he was attracted to neo-impressionism, van Gogh and tribal artefacts, combining influences from all three in his searingly emotional paintings, drawings and prints. His woodcuts and woodcarvings combine traditional German folk forms with more primitive instincts. His oil paintings, ranging from ambitiously large to intimate in scale, equally show the effects of ethnographic research. The nudes in 'Three bathers' resemble the artist's painted carvings, echoing in turn the sculpted Eves of medieval art as well as African and Pacific statuary. Wearing lipstick and a look of enervation, these Berlin day-trippers huddle defensively in the Baltic waves. Uncannily presaging the coming blitzkrieg, the figures also predict the artist's own deteriorating health. Conscripted in 1915, Kirchner was discharged six months later with tuberculosis.

AGNSW Handbook, 1999.

Provenance (7)

Fischer Fine Art Ltd (England), pre 28 Sep 1984, London/England, Purchased by the AGNSW from Fischer Fine Art 1984

Mr & Mrs Frederick Zimmermann (United States of America), Jun 1955-circa 1969, New York/New York/United States of America, Loaned by Mr and Mrs Zimmermann to 'Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: a Retrospective Exhibition' at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1969

Curt Valentin Gallery (United States of America, estab. 1951, closed 1955), 1951-Jun 1955, New York/New York/United States of America, Purchased by Mr and Mrs Zimmermann, June 1955 from the 'Closing exhibition'.

Buchholz Gallery (United States of America, estab. 1937, closed 1951), circa 1939-1951, New York/New York/United States of America, Email from Prof. Dr. Uwe Fleckner, Kunstgeschichtliches Seminar, Universität Hamburg, 27 August 2011. 'I could figure out that your painting was confiscated at the Kunstsammlungen der Stadt Düsseldorf on 26 August 1937. It was not listed in the official confiscation records, but the fact of its confiscation is stated in the Düsseldorf museum's papers. The painting has not been in the "Degenerate Art" show of 1937, the label 2046 (verso painting) would have been composed by 5 figures if this would have been the case! It is likely that 2046 is the inventory no. of the Curt Valentin Gallery (so that Valentin would have got it ca.1939, because we know that no. 2045, a work by Dix, went to the gallery at that date).'; Loaned by Buchholz Gallery to 'Kirchner: first American retrospective exhibition of oils, watercolours, prints' at the Busch-Reisinger Museum, 8 December 1950 - 12 January 1951.

Kunstsammlungen der Stadt Düsseldorf (Germany), pre 1937, Dusseldorf/Germany, Confiscated 26 August 1937

Paul Multhaupt (Germany, b.1884, d.1933), circa 1929, Dusseldorf/Germany, Possibly in the collection of Multhaupt http://www.raederscheidt.com/paul_multhaupt1.htm, accessed 6 December 2011

Galerie Ludwig Schames (Germany), 1916, Frankfurt am Main/Germany, Exhibited October 1916

Bibliography (23)

Deborah Wye (Author), Kirchner and the Berlin Street, 2009, 77, 78 (colour illus.). fig.35

'Foundation building' by Michael Wardell, pg.14-17, Look Sep 2004, Sep 2004, 14 (colour illus.).

Museo d'Arte Moderna della Città di Lugano (Switzerland) (Author), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Switzerland, 2000, cover (colour illus.), 56, 57 (colour illus.), 72. cat.no. 35

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 55 (colour illus.).

Susan Lee (Editor), Art Investigator, Port Melbourne, 1998, 179 (colour illus.).

Art Gallery of New South Wales Foundation Annual Report 1997 1997, 1997, 11 (colour illus.).

Richard Barron (Author), Wolf-Dieter Dube (Author), German Expressionism: Art and Society, Milan, 1997, 170, 171 (colour illus.). cat.no. 19

Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 148, 149 (colour illus.).

Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Great gifts, great patrons: an exhibition celebrating private patronage of the Gallery, Sydney, 1994. no catalogue numbers

Lorenz Dittmann (Germany) (Author), Magdalena Moeller (Germany) (Author), Armin Zweite (Germany) (Author), Hubertus Froning (Germany) (Author), German Expressionism: The Colours of Desire, Sydney, Oct 1989, 62 (colour illus.). cat.no. 23

Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 52, 53 (colour illus.).

Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Five years on: a selection of acquisitions 1981-1986, Sydney, 1986, cover (illus.). cat.no. 138

'Nature versus humanity' by Elwyn Lynn, The Weekend Australian 01 Sep 1984-02 Sep 1984, 01 Sep 1984-02 Sep 1984.

Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Editor), Jan Meek (Australia) (Editor), Portrait of a Gallery, Sydney, 1984, 12, 13 (colour illus.).

Donald Gordon (Author), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Cambridge, 1968, 90, 92, 106, 317 (illus.). plate 53, cat.no. 356

Franz Roh (Germany, b.1890, d.1965) (Author), German Art in the 20th Century, London, 1968, 54 (illus.). as 'Feldafing', Collection Buchheim

Donald Gordon (Author), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: A Retrospective Exhibition, Unknown, 1968, 72 (illus.). cat.no. 39

Lothar-Günther Buchheim (Germany, b.1918, d.2007) (Author), Die Künstlergemeinschaft "Brücke", Germany, 1956, (illus.). fig.167

Curt Valentin Gallery (United States of America, estab. 1951, closed 1955) (Author), Closing Exhibition, New York, 1955, (illus.). cat.no. 52, as 'Bathers'

Curt Valentin Gallery (United States of America, estab. 1951, closed 1955) (Curator), Kirchner, New York, 1952, (illus.). cat.no. 7, as 'Bathers'

Curt Valentin Gallery (United States of America, estab. 1951, closed 1955), Lehmbruck and his contemporaries, New York, 1951. cat.no. 22, as 'Bathers'

Busch-Reisinger Museum (United States of America), Kirchner, Cambridge, 1950. no catalogue numbers, titled 'Bathers'

Robert Goldwater (United States of America, b.1907, d.1973) (Author), Primitivism in Modern Painting, Unknown, 1938. fig.13

Exhibition history (13)

Kirchner, Galerie Ludwig Schames, Oct 1916–Oct 1916.

Kirchner: First American retrospective exhibition of oils, watercolours, prints, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 08 Dec 1950–12 Jan 1951.

Lehmbruck and his contemporaries, Curt Valentin Gallery, 24 Sep 1951–13 Oct 1951.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Curt Valentin Gallery, 16 Apr 1952–10 May 1952.

Closing Exhibition, Curt Valentin Gallery, 08 Jun 1955–Jun 1955.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: A retrospective exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 20 Mar 1969–27 Apr 1969.

Five years on: a selection of acquisitions 1981-1986, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 26 Sep 1986–23 Nov 1986.

German Expressionism: The Colours of Desire, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 11 Oct 1989–10 Dec 1989.

German Expressionism: The Colours of Desire, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 20 Dec 1989–18 Feb 1990.

Great gifts, great patrons, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 17 Aug 1994–19 Oct 1994.

German Expressionism: Art and Society, Palazzo Grassi S.p.a., 06 Sep 1997–11 Jan 1998.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Museo d'Arte Moderna della Città di Lugano, 19 Mar 2000–02 Jul 2000.

(NGA collection display), National Gallery of Australia, 01 May 2010–31 Aug 2010.