Mountain Landscape from Clavadel
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
(German, 1880–1938)
1925–26
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions135 x 200.3 cm (53 1/8 x 78 7/8 in.)
Credit LineTompkins Collection—Arthur Gordon Tompkins Fund
Accession number56.13
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPaintings
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Kirchner suffered a complete mental and physical collapse after being called up for service during World War I; he then settled in Switzerland, hoping the mountain air would cure mind and body. He turned to painting the high Alps, with bold colors and coarse brushwork, suggesting man at peace with nature-an ideal that contrasted sharply with his own wartime experience.
InscriptionsIncised, upper right: K; and lower left: K; Lower right: ELKiRchneR; Reverse E L Kirchner / 25-26 / Berglandschaft von ClavadelProvenanceAugust, 1954, sold by the Kirchner estate, Biberach an der Riss, Germany, to the Galerie Beyeler, Basel [see note 1]; 1956, sold by Beyeler to E. and A. Silberman Galleries, New York; 1956, sold by Silberman Galleries to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 12, 1956)
NOTES:
[1] According to a letter from Abris Silberman (January 31, 1956) to W.G. Constable of the MFA, the painting "came directly from the Kirchner Estate through Mr. Beyeler in Switzerland." Details of the transaction kindly confirmed by the Beyeler Foundation.
NOTES:
[1] According to a letter from Abris Silberman (January 31, 1956) to W.G. Constable of the MFA, the painting "came directly from the Kirchner Estate through Mr. Beyeler in Switzerland." Details of the transaction kindly confirmed by the Beyeler Foundation.
Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof
Barbara Longhi
Jacob Adriaensz. Backer