Lot 329 Dα

For Kirchner drawing was an inner necessity, a medium that always accompanied him: “I have to draw to the point of frenzy, only draw, then after a while single out only that which is good. The technique is simply too fine”, is what he himself wrote about it (cited in: Magdalena M. Moeller, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Zeichnungen und Aquarelle, exhib. cat. travelling exhibition Berlin et al. 1994/95, p. 9).
This double-sided sheet demonstrates the development that took place in Kirchner's style of drawing within the space of a few years. During his preoccupation with the art of van Gogh, Munch and Klimt in the period between 1905 and 1908, the line is a clear and powerful compositional element. With his move to Berlin in 1911 there is a shift to an intense, agitated and nervous application of line that impulsively and directly captures not so much the outer form as the experienced contentual expression. The sisters Gerda - with braided hair - and Erna Schilling are depicted here.