Kirchner and the Berlin Street

ErnstLudwigKirchner'sremarkableseriesofpaintingsknownastheBerlinStreetScenesisahighpointoftheartist'sworkandamilestoneofGermanExpressionism,widelyseenasametaphorformodernityitselfthroughtheirdepictionoflifeinamajormetropolis.KirchnermovedfromDresdentoBerlinin1911,anditwasinthisteemingcity,immersedinitsvitality,decadenceandunderlyingsenseofdangerposedbytheimminentWorldWarI,thathecreatedtheStreetScenesinasustainedburstofcreativeenergyandambitionbetween1913and1915.AsthemostextensiveconsiderationofthesepaintingsinEnglish,thisrichlyillustratedvolumeexaminesthecreativeprocessundertakenbytheartistasheexploreshisthemethroughvariousmediums,andpresentsthemajorbodyofrelatedcharcoaldrawings,pen-and-inkstudies,pastels,etchings,woodcutsandlithographshecreatedinadditiontothepaintings.Thevolumealsoinvestigatesthesignificanceofthestreetwalkerasaprimarymotif,andprovidesinsightontheseriesinthecontextofKirchner'swideroeuvre.