Western Harbour in Frankfurt am Main, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Western Harbour in Frankfurt am Main
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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Western Harbour in Frankfurt am Main, 1916


Dimensions
84 x 95 cm
Physical Description
Oil on canvas
Inventory Number
SG 1122
Acquisition
Acquired in 1950 from Maria Helsig; formerly Carl Hagemann Collection
Status
On loan

Texts

About the Work

Labour at the docks was a dirty business – smoke and soot everywhere. In ‘Western Harbour in Frankfurt’, little is to be seen of toil and bustle. On the contrary, the ships moor peacefully at the pier. Two stevedores have turned their backs on the compound and are strolling in the viewer’s direction. They are far too large for their surroundings. Kirchner has depicted the harbour itself with dynamically receding lines in delicate shades of pink. The yellowish green hue of the water and sky adds an unreal atmosphere to the scene.

About the Acquisition

From 1900 onwards, the Frankfurt chemist and industrialist Carl Hagemann (1867‒1940) assembled one of the most important private collections of modern art. It included numerous paintings, drawings, watercolours and prints, especially by members of the artist group “Die Brücke”. After Carl Hagemann died in an accident during the Second World War, the then Städel director Ernst Holzinger arranged for Hagemann’s heirs to evacuate his collection with the museum’s collection. In gratitude, the family donated almost all of the works on paper to the Städel Museum in 1948. Further donations and permanent loans as well as purchases of paintings and watercolours from the Hagemann estate helped to compensate for the losses the museum had suffered in 1937 as part of the Nazi’s “Degenerate Art” campaign. Today, the Hagemann Collection forms the core of the Städel museum’s Expressionist collection.

Video

Gastkommentar: Ursachen des Klimawandels mit Klimaforscher Dirk Notz
Was sieht ein Klimaforscher in den Kunstwerken der Städel Sammlung? In dieser Reihe eröffnet Dirk Notz (Forschungsgruppenleiter am Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg) individuelle Sichtweisen auf die Werke des Städel Museums. Er erinnert mit der Betrachtung von Lucas van Valckenborchs "Winterlandschaften" an Klimaschwankungen in der Vergangenheit und führt am Beispiel von Ernst Ludwig Kirchners "Frankfurter Westhafen" den menschlichen Einfluss am Klimawandel vor Augen. Mehr Infos unter: https://www.staedelmuseum.de/de/angebote/gastkommentar Die Werke in unserer Digitalen Sammlung Lucas van Valckenborch, Winterlandschaft bei Antwerpen mit Schneefall (1575): https://sammlung.staedelmuseum.de/de/werk/winterlandschaft-bei-antwerpen-mit-schneefall Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Frankfurter Westhafen (1916): https://sammlung.staedelmuseum.de/de/werk/frankfurter-westhafen

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Last update

02.12.2024