Carl - Kirchner: Mega Square

6 th May 1880: Birth of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in Aschaffenburg, into a high-class family. Son of Ernst Kirchner (1847-1921) and Maria Elise Franke (1851-1928).

1886: The family move to Francfort-sur-le-Main, and then in 1887 they move to Perlen, near Luzerne.

1901: Following his fathers wishes, he enrolls in the Technical College in Dresden to study Architecture.

1903-04: Leaves Munich to study Art, takes lessons at the school of Wilhelm von Debschitz and Hermann Obrist. His numerous visits to museums and art galleries confirm his decision to become a professional artist. In October he travels to Nuremberg to complete his studies.

7 th June 1905: After returning to Dresden, he joins up with his friends Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmitt-Rotluff to form the group Die Brcke, giving themselves the job of reviving German art which has been suppressed by academic tradition.

Nov 1905: First exhibition of Die Brcke at the P.H. Beyer and Sohn Gallery in Leipzig. The group works together in the rented studio that they share.

1906: Meets Doris Groe who will become his preferred model until 1911.

1-21 st Sept 1907: Group exhibition at the Emil Richter Art Gallery in Dresden.

1907-11: Spends his summers in Goppeln, at Lake Moritzburg and Fehmarn Island with the other members of Die Brcke, discovering the joys of sports and outdoor life that were very fashionable in the 1910s. They develop an ideal based upon a return to a primitive life which will illustrate their art through a new expressive form.

Jan 1908: Exhibition of Kirchner with Karl Schmitt-Rotluff at the August Drbrandt, Braunschweig.

1909: Kirchner and his friends visit the Matisse exhibition at the Paul Cassirer Gallery in Berlin. The members of Die Brcke, influenced by this discovery of Fauvism, use it as a way to develop their already expressive use of color.

1913-15: During his years in Berlin, Kirchner produces an extensive series of representations of modern city life in the German metropolis while at the same time indulging regularly and excessively in the drinking of alcohol.

1915: At the outbreak of the First World War Kirchner fights wearing the involuntary volunteer badge. Unable to bear the discipline, he falls into a deep depression which causes him to be discharged and sent for rehabilitation to Taunus and later Davos in Switzerland. Despite a growing dependence on morphine, sleeping pills and alcohol, he still manages to produces some of his most important work.

1917: Kirchner moves to Davos for good eventually buying a farm in Mlzes (the Swiss Alps) where he receives the support of the art collector Dr. Carl Hagemann, as well as that of the Belgian architect Henri van de Velde and the family of Dr. Spengler. He continues to work and his health improves. His works are exhibited in Switzerland and Germany.

1921: 50 of his works are shown at the Kronprinzen palace of Berlin where he receives positive feedback, cementing his role as the leader of Expressionism.

1925-26: Kirchner returns for the first time to Germany after his Swiss exile. His reputation grows as the first monograph dedicated to his work is published, as well as a Catalogue Raisonn of his main graphic productions, public reviews and works.

1928: Takes part in the Biennale of Venice which demonstrates his popularity within his own country.

1936: Kirchner is profoundly affected by the increasing threat of Nazism since the invasion of Austria.

1937: The Nazis qualify his work as degenerative art and confiscate all his plates shown in German museums, causing him great suffering. The pressure of the war and a relapse of his illness force him into a new depression, during which he destroys most of his work. Despite this, his international recognition remains strong, with exhibitions of his works in the USA, in both Detroit and New York.

15 th June 1938: Tired and exasperated by the political situation of Germany at the time, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner puts an end to his life.