Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, a founding member of 'Die Brücke', shared the experience of nature in its most pristine form with his painter friends. Their cooperation began with Kirchner's 'Fifteen Minute Nude' drawings. As of 1911, Berlin had a wealth of new motifs in store for him, which he captured with simplified, sharply contoured forms, expressive features and glaring colour contrasts. This is where his urban paintings were made, which are considered the incunabula of German Expressionism. A hallmark of Kirchner's style of painting is the distinct movement with which he captured an inner event on the canvas in ecstatic colours, forms and lines, and the transformation or abbreviation of a form as a sign, a so-called 'hieroglyph'. After the dissolution of 'Die Brücke' and Kirchner's military service, he settled in Davos in 1917, where he painted mountainscapes and representations of rural life. At the same time, he developed some significant graphics and writings. In 1937, Kirchner's works were branded as 'degenerate art' by the National Socialists. In the following year, Kirchner took his life by a shot in the heart.
