32 Items in this Learning Collection
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
Collection Object
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Collection Object

Copyright
All Rights Reserved ()

Seated Woman (Gerda Schilling)

Accession Number
1951/2.44

Title
Seated Woman (Gerda Schilling)

Artist(s)
Ernst Kirchner

Object Creation Date
1913

Medium & Support
graphite on off-white satinized paper

Dimensions
21 x 15 1/4 in. (53.3 x 38.7 cm);28 1/8 x 22 1/8 in. (71.28 x 56.04 cm);21 x 15 1/4 in. (53.3 x 38.7 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Label copy
Kirchner was one of the co-founders in Dresden in 1905 of "die Brücke" (the Bridge), a movement which gave rise to German Expressionism. Both movements feature distortions of form and psychological exploration. The Brücke dissolved in 1913 after many of the group’s artists moved to Berlin. The sitter in this portrait, Gerda Schilling, and her sister Erna (who became the artist’s lifelong companion), were dancers in Berlin who frequently posed for Kirchner. In this portrait, Kirchner simplifies Gerda’s large features to create strong geometrical forms that lend monumentality to the depiction. A little figure in Japanese costume sketched just to the right of Gerda’s head may refer to her stage appearances in such dress. The small figure not only enlivens the composition but also increases its psychological tension.
(A. Dixon, 20th Century Gallery installation, June 1999)

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Expressionism
chairs (furniture forms)
females
modern and contemporary art
seated
woman