Dance Hall Bellevue [obverse]

1909/1910

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Artist, German, 1880 - 1938

In saturated, vivid tones of mint green, marigold orange, dandelion yellow, sky blue, and rose pink, a long building stretches away from us along a walkway. The narrow end of the building facing us to the right is orange, and the long side is frosty green. The roof is painted garnet red, and the windows are created with slashes of midnight blue and dark red outlined with topaz blue. A wall enclosing the structure is lemon-lime yellow, and a fence in front of that is painted ultramarine blue. The walkway beneath the fence is pink and, to the left of that, pale blue. Two trees painted with twisting lines of ruby red, shamrock green, black, and off white edge into the scene along the left side, and the sky is lapis blue around a mint-green halo that surrounds the building’s roofline and walls. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes throughout.

Media Options

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On View

East Building Mezzanine, Gallery 217-A

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Artwork overview

Associated Artworks

A man and woman with pale, pink-colored skin hold hands and dance in this stylized, abstracted vertical painting. The woman’s breasts are exposed, and a single teal-green cloth edged in sapphire blue appears to encase both of their torsos. The man is behind the woman just to our left, and he looks down at her. Her shoulders face us, but she looks back at him, both in profile. Their faces are each painted with one or two strokes each for eyebrows, eyes, lips, and, for the man, a nose. Their hands are lifted and joined, blending into single forms, and the woman takes a wide step to our left. Their bodies are outlined with maroon red, black, or slate blue. The background is ice blue interspersed with angular, tent-like forms painted in royal blue, pale blue, and maroon. The frame is shown and reveals that the painting was done on the back of a stretched canvas. A label affixed to the top rail reads “Nachl. E.L. Kirchner TA/BH 19.”

Dancing Couple in the Snow [reverse]

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

1928

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1880-1938]; his estate; (Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione bei Lugano, Switzerland);[1] purchased by Ruth Cole Kainen [1922-2009] and Jacob [1909-2001] Kainen, Chevy Chase, Maryland; gift (partial and promised) 1989 to NGA; gift completed 2012.
[1] Provenance according to Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, Exh. cat., Washington, D.C., 1991: 280-281.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1991

  • Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1991, unnumbered catalogue, color repro.

1992

  • Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Paintings, Drawings and Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1992, no catalogue.

2003

  • Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1880-1938, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2003, no. 25, repro., as Dresden Buildings (Dance Hall Bellevue) (shown only in Washingon).

2014

  • Expressionism in Germany and France: From Van Gogh to Kandinsky, Kunsthaus Zürich; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Montreal Museum of Fine Art, 2014-2015, no. 111, pl. 79.

2019

  • Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Neue Galerie New York, 2019 - 2020, no. 7, repro.

Bibliography

1968

  • Gordon, Donald E. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1968: 400, no. 923v, repro. 421.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 324, color repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20191235

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