Coastal Landscape on Fehmarn

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner German, 1880 - 1938
On View

in

Modern, Level 2, North Wing

  • About the Artwork

    Please note: This section is empty

  • Markings

    Please note: This section is empty

    This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.

  • Provenance

    Please note: This section is empty

    Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

    For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

  • Exhibition History

    Please note: This section is empty

    The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

    We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

  • Published References

    Please note: This section is empty

    We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Please note: This section is empty

    A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.

  • Credit Line for Reproduction

    Please note: This section is empty

    The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

The perspective of this painting leads the spectator’s eye from the elevated grassy dunes to the narrow beach where sand meets the shallow waters of the receding ocean. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s jagged application of paint in the foreground imparts a sketchy quality to the image, unified by the intense color palette of greens, browns, and dusty pinks set against the swaths of blue. The shores of the North and Baltic Seas — bordering Germany — were popular destinations for members of Die Brücke (The Bridge), an artistic association Kirchner cofounded in Dresden in 1905. Sharing the desire for a spiritual regeneration through a communion with nature, Brücke artists frequented these secluded sites to sketch and paint. In the summer of 1912, Kirchner lived with his companion Erna Schilling on Fehmarn Island on the Baltic Sea, the remote area which provided inspiration and motif for this landscape. Kirchner framed Costal Landscape on Fehmarn in a half-rounded wooden frame, which is preserved with the work.

Coastal Landscape on Fehmarn

ca. 1913

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

1880 - 1938

German

Unknown

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 35 1/2 × 47 1/2 inches (90.2 × 120.7 cm) Framed: 38 13/16 × 50 7/16 × 2 7/16 inches (98.6 × 128.1 × 6.2 cm)

Paintings

European Modern Art to 1970

City of Detroit Purchase

21.204

This work is in the public domain.

Markings

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance

Professor Edwin Redslob (Berlin, Germany). 1921-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Gordon, D. E. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Cambridge,1968, no. 331. [as Fehmarn Coastal Landscape, 1913]

Uhr, H. Masterpieces of German Expressionism at the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1982, p. 100 (ill.).

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Coastal Landscape on Fehmarn, ca. 1913, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 21.204.

Coastal Landscape on Fehmarn
Coastal Landscape on Fehmarn