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Street, Berlin
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · Early Modern (Fauvism, Cubism, Expressionism)
- Artist
- Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938)
- Date
- 1913
- Dimensions
- 120.6 x 91.1 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States
Street, Berlin shows two elegant women in feathered hats and fur-trimmed coats walking along a crowded Berlin street, surrounded by men in dark coats and hats. The figures are elongated and angular, and the pavement tilts steeply upwards.
A closer look
The women are probably prostitutes, dressed as fashionable ladies, and the men around them potential clients; the street becomes a place of anonymous desire and alienation. Kirchner used jagged, nervous brushstrokes and harsh, acidic colours, pink, green, blue, to convey the tension and speed of the modern metropolis. The faces are mask-like, and no one looks at anyone else. This is one of a famous series of Berlin street scenes Kirchner painted just before the First World War, among the key works of German Expressionism.
More by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Famous works elsewhere
- Berlin Street Scene 1913
- Five Women on the Street 1913
- Half-Length Nude with Hat 1911
- Potsdamer Platz 1914
- Alpine Kitchen 1918
- Archery 1935