Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938): Early Female Nudes in Landscapes

This thesis examines how Ernst Ludwig Kirchner reconceived the female nude within the two contexts of Expressionism and the German nudist movement. In particular, it looks to Kirchner’s early paintings, executed between 1909 and 1914, of female nudes in landscape settings to determine how Kirchner operated within and departed from the conventions of the female nude. This thesis challenges the feminist critique of Expressionist painting and Kirchner’s female nudes. It also examines how Kirchner’s female nudes in landscapes are complicated by the early twentieth-century development of German nudism. While these paintings are often categorized as bathers following nineteenth-century French precedent, they in fact are unique products of die Brücke philosophy.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art History

Year dc:date.available

2010

Author dc:creator

• Rogge, Kathryn

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eric Garberson
• Michael Schreffler
• Margaret Lindauer

• Kirchner
• Expressionism
• Germany
• nudism
• Duncan
• pose
• feminism
• die Brücke
• Arts and Humanities

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/158

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1157