Two Girls in a Garden

1914

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
German, 1884–1976

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff was a founding member of Brücke (Bridge). Formed in 1905 in Dresden, the group sought to forge an art that would be a bridge to Germany’s great artistic past. Brücke renounced academic painting and promoted a more intuitive approach that drew on non-Western and outsider sources. The intentionally rough and angular style of Two Girls in a Garden demonstrates Schmidt-Rottluff’s interest in African sculpture, which he studied in the Dresden Ethnographic Museum. To combat the devolution of modern society, the members of Brücke praised nature and frequently communed together in the countryside. Though by 1914 Schmidt-Rottluff had moved to Berlin, nature would remain an important source of inspiration in his art.

Status: On View, Gallery 392
Department: Modern Art

Artist: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Title: Two Girls in a Garden
Place: Germany (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1914
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Signed and dated, l.c.: "S. Rottluff 1914"
Dimensions: 100.3 × 86.4 cm (39 1/2 × 34 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley M. Freehling in memory of Juliet S. Freehling
Reference Number: 1959.212
Copyright: © 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

J. M., Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 53-54 (Feb. 1960), pp. 6 (ill.)-7.
Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in The Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago, 1961), p. 413 (ill.).
A. James Speyer and Courtney Graham Donnell, Twentieth-Century European Paintings (Chicago, 1980), p. 69, pl. 3G4.

Chicago, Allan Frumkin Gallery, Fifth Anniversary Exhibition, Nov. 1957.
Wisconsin, Sheboygan Art Foundation, The Expressionist Revolt, Sept. 13–Oct. 25, 1970, no. 113.

Dr. Hans Fetscherin, Munich. With Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago, by May 1956 [verso label]; Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Freehling, Highland Park, IL, by July 1956 [Statement and Appraisal for Stanley Freehling by Allan Frumkin, July 1, 1956; copies in curatorial object file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1959.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Suggested Terms

See all hours

On View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

Copyright

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share