1913, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Toilette - Frau vor dem Spiegel (Woman in Front of the Mirror) -- Pompidou Center (Paris)
From the museum label: This woman at her toilet, a traditionally peaceful and intimate scene, is animated here by a strange instability.
The tight framing, the rough-and-ready perspective, the blue that seems to invade the space and the astonishing reflection with no bearing at all on the posture of Erma Schilling, the painter's companion, combine to create a dramatic tension. Although the works of the French Cubists exhibited in Cologne in 1912 no doubt influenced Kirchner, the razor-sharp drawing and the acute angles also testify to his interest in German Gothic art, particularly wood engravings. Painted in 1913, the work was slightly modified by the artist seven years later.
1913, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Toilette - Frau vor dem Spiegel (Woman in Front of the Mirror) -- Pompidou Center (Paris)
From the museum label: This woman at her toilet, a traditionally peaceful and intimate scene, is animated here by a strange instability.
The tight framing, the rough-and-ready perspective, the blue that seems to invade the space and the astonishing reflection with no bearing at all on the posture of Erma Schilling, the painter's companion, combine to create a dramatic tension. Although the works of the French Cubists exhibited in Cologne in 1912 no doubt influenced Kirchner, the razor-sharp drawing and the acute angles also testify to his interest in German Gothic art, particularly wood engravings. Painted in 1913, the work was slightly modified by the artist seven years later.