(Aschaffenburg 1880–1938 Frauenkirch near Davos)
“Bogenschützen auf dem Wildboden”, c. 1935, titled, signed on the reverse E. L. Kirchner, pencil, watercolour on thin writing paper, 29 x 21.2 cm, framed

Provenance:
Hans (1889-1972) and Lotte Rohner Collection, Zurich
Max Huggler Collection, Berlin
Galerie Kornfeld, Bern
Galerie Iris Wazzau, Davos
Galerie Thomas, Munich (gallery label on the reverse)
Private Collection, Germany

Literature/Exhibited:

1996 Davos: “Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, die Skizzenbücher, Ekstase des ersten Sehens”, Kirchner Museum, Davos, Skizzenbuch 148, p. 342
2008–2009 Davos: “Der Neue Stil Ernst Ludwig Kirchners Spätwerk”, Kirchner Museum, Davos, p. 89
2013 Munich: “Edvard Munch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner”, Galerie Thomas, exhibit. cat., p. 107

Already since the early 1930s Kirchner was again intensively preoccupied with archery.
The phenomenon of shadows of human figures moving in nature fascinated him.
The energetic, dark linearity of the drawing elucidates the fluent movement of the human bodies. Kirchner creates accents by means of colourful beams of light, reflections and cast shadows, which allow the sequences of movement of his archers to appear as in a time lapse. The drawing is a study for Kirchner’s monumental work “Archers”, which was created between 1935 and 1937.

“At the moment, I am painting ‘Archers’, a big picture. The large dark areas, the atmospheric shadows, will not be noticed in the picture by the viewer at all. They are a new discovery of mine and make the picture calm and monumental.
You can find many kinds of things that have never been used in painting.”
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in a letter to Ernst Hagemann, dated 28 November 1935