Fehmarn Houses, 1908

About the Work

During his first visit to the Baltic island of Fehmarn, Kirchner painted simple farm cottages, recording the scenes in luminous colours applied in thick brushstrokes. Kirchner soon gave up the technique, which reveals his role model Vincent van Gogh - although Kirchner always denied the influence of contemporary painters. The pastose painting style seemed to him to be too ponderous, too clumsy. This early work from Kirchner's time in Dresden shows the co-founder of the Brücke group of Expressionist artists to be still in search of his own artistic style.