Portrait of Erna Schilling
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1913
This 1913 portrait shows Erna Schilling, a nightclub dancer from Berlin who became Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's friend and model after he moved from Dresden to Berlin in 1911. According to the sources, their relationship was one of equals and lasted until the painter's death in 1938. The sitter appears unwell, with a skeptical expression and a melancholy mood that Kirchner found compelling, since it gave him a chance to test a pointed, angular, nervous brushstroke that echoes the tension of the city. Her elegant dress and subdued palette contrast with the vivid background. The work marks the start of the mature style Kirchner would use in his urban scenes, and Erna also modeled for Potsdamer Platz (1914). After passing through the collection of Carl Hagemann, it survived the Nazi era hidden in the Städel in Frankfurt and entered the Berlin National Gallery in 1989.
- Painter
- Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
- Date
- 1913
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 72 × 60 cm
- Museum
- Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
- Genre
- portrait
- Depicts
- Erna Schilling
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