Reclining Nude

1907

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Associated Names
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Artist, German, 1880 - 1938

The image depicts a sketched art piece of a human figure reclining on a surface in a fetal-like position. The figure is lying on their side with one arm under their head and the other arm across their torso. The facial features are soft and slightly abstract, and the hair is drawn with wavy lines blending into the background pattern. The individual in the image is not wearing clothing. The surface beneath them has bold, wavy lines resembling fabric or bedding. The background is a high-contrast abstract design with dark, irregular patterns surrounding the figure.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph on cardboard

  • Credit Line

    Ruth and Jacob Kainen Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 36.9 x 44.9 cm (14 1/2 x 17 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1986.95.1

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Dube 1967, Vol. (L), no. 37, bis

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist (L.4337); probably gift 1918 to the Kunstverein Jena, in honor of Botho Graef [1857-1917]. [1] Ruth Cole Kainen [1922-2009], Washington, D.C. (Lugt 4740); gift to NGA, 1986.
[1] The L.4337 stamp appears to be only associated with the gift to Jena. The print was therefore probably confiscated in 1937 by the German government as "degenerate art," and sold by one of the agents appointed by the German government's Commission for the Exploitation of Degenerate Art to sell objects purged from German institution, although it has not been identified with a specific object on the official list of Degenerate Art confiscation from Jena (original, National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, London).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2014

  • Modern German Prints and Drawings from the Kainen Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2014.

Bibliography

1926

  • Schiefler, Gustav.Die Graphik Ernst Ludwig Kirchners bis 1924. Berlin, 1926: no. 16.

1967

  • Dube, Annemarie and Wolf-Dieter Dube. E.L. Kirchner; das graphische Werke. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1967.

1985

  • NGA Kainen Coll. 1985, 1.

Inscriptions

lower left in graphite: [Liegender akt?]; lower right in graphite: ELKirchner; by unknown hand, lower left verso in graphite: 960/XI

Wikidata ID

Q74875730

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