Two Bathers on the Fehmarn Coast (Zwei Badende am hoher Fehmarnküste)

1912

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Associated Names
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Artist, German, 1880 - 1938

The image shows a sketch from a slight aerial point of view. There is no horizon depicted. The composition includes figures and abstract forms representing vegetation and rocks, with two human-like figures—one closer to us and the other standing further in the distance. The brushstrokes are expressive and spontaneous, creating dynamic outlines and suggested shapes. The color palette is monochromatic, consisting of black ink on a cream paper.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    brush and black ink on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 58.1 × 45.9 cm (22 7/8 × 18 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.672

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

E.L. Kirchner estate, Basel (Lugt 1570b). (Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer, Lugano); Ruth Cole Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased June 21, 1983; Gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1988

  • Baltimore's Print and Drawing Society 1968-88. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 1988 (no cat.).

2024

  • The Anxious Eye: German Expressionism and Its Legacy, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2024.

Inscriptions

on verso, E. L. Kirchner estate stamp annotated in black ink: F Be I Bf 14; in graphite: K4577 362 / 4209

Markings

verso, stamp in black ink: RCK

Wikidata ID

Q64559857

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