Topic 5 - Winter Landscape by Moonlight, Kirchner, 1919

when was it painted?

1919

who painted it?

kirchner

Kirchner claimed he didn’t want to be seen as…

‘a tame landscapist’ but rather as a figure painter

his landscaped carry the same …. and …. as his figures and cityscapes

psychological charge and alienation

the same sense of an …. that animated his urban paintings could be seen in his landscapes

apocalyptic surge

Kirchner turned to painting landscapes following..

the first world war - seeing nature as a place to find refuge and renewal after his mental and physical breakdown

arrived in …. in 1917 to recover and painted unsettling landscapes

Davos

the colour is ……… and the handling of paint is…

non-descriptive / aggressive, choppy and impasto

the ‘primitive’ undertones and the influence of medieval German woodcuts are seen in the…

jagged lines and harsh use of colour

a similar approach to expressing a connection with the land can be seen in the work of ….. …… artists

Blaue Reiter

like Blaue Reiter artists, Kirchner has a tendency towards….

heavy black contouring of forms, giving a naive carved/gouged appearance / there is a complete lack of tonal modelling

colours are…

intense and clashing

the image is from…

the view from his window in Davos on a stormy night

what mountain range is depicted?

Grisons Alps (Tinzenhorn Mountain)

Kirchner suffered from ….. and he claimed he saw this view at ‘moonset’ just before sunrise

insomnia

the colours used a ….. colours

primary

shapes are…

simplified and stylised

what highlights the intensity of emotion?

slashing brushstrokes giving a sense of directness and urgency

the clouds are ….. and the sky is ….. with …. trees

yellow / orange and red / flame-like

they can be compared to the pre-war apocalyptic landscapes of…

Ludwig Meidner

Kirchner argues his paintings aren’t “images of…

certain things or being, but independent organisms”