Stadtbahnbogen (Tramway Arch)
Artist: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, 1880-1938)
Date: 1915
Dimensions:
21 1/2 × 24 3/4 in. (54.6 × 62.9 cm)
Medium: Four color lithograph on paper (yellow, green, blue on black)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: William J. Hitchcock Fund in memory of Grace J. Hitchcock
Object number: 2018.19
Label Text:Tramway Arch belongs to E.L. Kirchner’s most productive and innovative artistic period. Created as part of his famous Berlin city scenes (1912–1915), this four-color lithograph—with its jarring colors, tilted perspective, and deliberately distorted spaces—powerfully captures the growing industrial infrastructure and energy of the rapidly changing metropolis in the first decades of the 20th century. Dominating the composition is a massive stone archway that rises behind a steel bridge and is framed by an isolated apartment building on the left. Above, a train passes on an elevated track as a tram (streetcar) emerges below from a network of interlocking transportation systems. Countering the mechanized modes of transportation are anonymous pedestrians who hurry along walkways. A superb example of Kirchner’s ability to register the psychological experience engendered by modern, industrial existence, Tramway Arch evokes the intense sensations produced by the pervasive noise, bustle, and dense traffic of urban life.
A co-founder of the early Expressionist artists’ group Brücke (Bridge), Kirchner regarded printmaking as an integral component of his artistic practice and became widely known for his innovative and unorthodox approach. Though Kirchner created more than 2,000 woodcuts, etchings, and lithographs, Tramway Arch is an extremely rare work that belongs to a small group of only 10 color lithographs produced during his career.
A co-founder of the early Expressionist artists’ group Brücke (Bridge), Kirchner regarded printmaking as an integral component of his artistic practice and became widely known for his innovative and unorthodox approach. Though Kirchner created more than 2,000 woodcuts, etchings, and lithographs, Tramway Arch is an extremely rare work that belongs to a small group of only 10 color lithographs produced during his career.
DescriptionAmong Kirchner’s finest, this large, 4-color lithograph, Tramway Arch, belongs to his most productive and innovative artistic period. Created as part of his famous Berlin city scenes, this complex image with its jarring colors, sharply tilted perspective, and gestural lines, powerfully captures the mechanized dynamism and energy of the rapidly growing Berlin metropolis. Dominating the composition is a massive, stone archway that rises behind a steel bridge and is framed by an isolated apartment building. Above, a rail train passes by a house, as a tram (trolley car) emerges below from beneath the criss-crossing structures and thoroughfares. Countering these machine-driven modes of transportation are scurrying, anonymous pedestrians who make their way along either side of the embankment.
Not on view