* 05.06.1880 in Aschaffenburg - † 15.06.1938 in Frauenkirch, Davos, Schweiz
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (* 1880 in Aschaffenburg, † 1938 in Frauenkirch-Wildboden near Davos / Switzerland) is one of the most important representatives of German Expressionism. After studying architecture in Dresden and spending time in Munich, he founded the avant-garde artists' group Die Brücke in 1905 together with architecture students Erich Heckel, Fritz Bleyl and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. After successfully completing his studies, Kirchner decided against becoming an architect and subsequently developed his expressionist style of painting. His preferred motifs included portraits, landscapes, cityscapes and the world of vaudeville, with female nudes and dancers playing a special role.After his move to Berlin in 1911 and the dissolution of the Brücke in 1913, the previously unsuccessful artist created hundreds of drawings and sketches, especially during his stays on the island of Fehmarn.The year 1914 marked the beginning of the traumatic period of the First World War for Kirchner and, above all, the time of his first high-profile exhibitions at the Jenaer Kunstverein. Three of his major works, The Drinker (1914/15) and Self-Portrait as a Soldier (1915) as well as the triptych of Bathing Women (1915-20), were also created during this period. From the 1920s onwards, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's position in modern art was finally consolidated.