Zwei Badende an der Fehmarnküste. 1913.
Pencil drawing.
With the estate stamp of the Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570 b) and the handwritten registration number "B Be/Bf 72" on the reverse. On wove paper. 56.5 x 45 cm (22.2 x 17.7 in), size of sheet. [CH].


• From the sought-after creative years in Berlin.
• E. L. Kirchner spent the summer of 1913 with his partner Erna Schilling on the island of Fehmarn, his beloved retreat far away from the Berlin hustle and bustle.
• In the summer of 1913, only a few months after the artists' group had disbanded, Kirchner's former "Brücke" colleague Otto Mueller and his wife Maschka came to Fehmarn for a visit.
• Uninhibited nudity in nature was an important source of inspiration for E. L. Kirchner and his fellow "Brücke" artists and characteristic of their expressionist work.
• In the same year, Kirchner also painted "Badende am Strand, Fehmarn" (Bathers on the Beach, Fehnmarn) (Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).

The work is documented at the Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Archive in Wichtrach/Bern, Switzerland.

PROVENANCE: Artist's estate (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, with the estate stamp on the reverse).
Private collection, Southern Germany (acquired from the above in 1994).

LITERATURE: Ketterer Kunst, Munich, auction 197, Modern Art II, June 6, 1994, lot 144 (illu.).

Characteristic nude drawing in good condition and of impressive format. Slight creasing, mainly in the right margin and in the upper left part of the sheet. The lower left corner of the sheet with small brown stains. Verso with remains of a former mounting, slightly showing through to recto, there with slight discoloration. Small, professionally restored tear in the upper right edge of the sheet.
The condition report was compiled in daylight to the best of our knowledge and belief.
For information concerning the condition, please view the high resolution image / backside image.