Skip to main content

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Flower Beds in the Dresden Gardens [recto]; Nude (Portrait of Dodo) [verso]

1909

Scroll

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Flower Beds in the Dresden Gardens [recto]; Nude (Portrait of Dodo) [verso]

1909

Physical Qualities Oil on canvas, 30 1/2 x 37 1/4 in. (77.5 x 94.6 cm.)
Credit Line Gift of Curt Valentin Gallery, Inc.
Object Number 1953.33
Here, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner combined vivid colors and undulating forms to transform the Grand Garden in Dresden, Germany, into a wild and lively landscape. The urban park was designed in the 17th century and featured the straight avenues and symmetrically arranged lawns popular in France at the time. However, Kirchner drew inspiration for this painting from areas of the park that were designed in the English style with labyrinthine paths, little forests, and meadows. He admired artists like Henri Matisse (1869–1954), whose pioneering use of bold color combinations in the early 20th century similarly embodied a spirit of freedom.

Publication References

Baltimore Museum of Art News, June-Summer 1953, ill. cover.
BMA News, June 1957, ill. p. 3.
Donald E. Gordon, "Ernst Ludwig Kirchner," Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968, no. 100, p. 280, ill. verso p. 422.
Lloyd, Jill and Janis Staggs, eds. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. New York: Neue Galerie: Munich: Prestel Verlag, 2019
Rosenthal, Gertrude, ed. From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works by European and American Artists. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1968, pp. 138, ill.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1953; Curt Valentin Gallery; Buchholz Gallery, New York (Curt Valentin); Kirchner Estate (after artist's death in 1938); Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Die Brucke

100 Years of Brucke - Anniversary Exhibition in Berlin

The Birth of Expressionism: Brücke in Dresden and Berlin

German Expressionism: A Revolutionary Spirit

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Expressions of Nature: Early 20th Century Landscapes

Cone Wing Rotations 2020

Cone Wing Rotations 2022

Cone Wing Rotations 2023

Cone Wing Rotations 2024

Cone Wing Rotations 2025

1910: Portrait of a Year

Artist

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

German, 1880-1938
Meet Ernst →