Provenance:

The artist’s estate

Galerie Kornfeld, Bern

Ernst and Gustel Pfänder, Nürtingen (acquired in the 1960s in the above-mentioned gallery)

Collection Olbricht, Essen

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner – Zwei liegende Akte

Subject and Composition

In the early pastel drawing Zwei liegende Akte (Two Reclining Nudes), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner approaches his subject with only a few black contour lines on brownish paper. The composition depicts two female nudes positioned on what appears to be a bed or sofa, although the setting remains intentionally undefined. The suggestion of a bed is conveyed solely through the posture of the figures rather than through detailed spatial description.

One of the women is entirely nude. With her legs drawn up and her right arm supporting her body, Kirchner places her prominently in the upper centre of the composition. At the left edge, the second figure crouches facing the viewer directly. Her upper body is unclothed, while her legs seem to be covered by a yellow blanket. Here again, Kirchner deliberately introduces ambiguity into the representation.

Notably, the nudity of the figures is articulated not through modelling or shading, but through the deliberate omission of colour. The brown paper ground functions as the skin tone, becoming an active compositional element.

Colour, Line and Expressionist Technique

The absence of colour in the bodies stands in strong contrast to the vibrant tones of the surrounding forms. Kirchner reinforces the contours with luminous orange, blue tending towards violet, and a rich burgundy. The bed is rendered in light blue, while the blanket appears in a striking mustard yellow.

Characteristic of Kirchner’s Expressionist drawing technique, the individual pastel strokes remain clearly visible and are not blended. The colours assert themselves independently within the pictorial space. This juxtaposition of distinct tonal areas generates a surprising sense of depth and spatial tension, which stands in deliberate contrast to the flat, visible paper ground.

In Zwei liegende Akte, surface and space, line and colour, contrast and omission exist in a carefully balanced polarity. The drawing exemplifies Kirchner’s early engagement with the theme of the female nude and reflects his search for a direct, expressive visual language within the context of German Expressionism.