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Portrait of Otto Mueller

Vibrant colored print in black, yellow, red, and blue of man reclining.

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  • Vibrant colored print in black, yellow, red, and blue of man reclining.

Date:

1915

Artist:

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
German, 1880-1938

About this artwork

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Portrait of Otto Mueller—with its vibrant, modulated color and penetrating psychological force—is emblematic of the artist’s innovative approach to technique and imagery. A pivotal figure of the German Expressionist movement, Kirchner first met Mueller, also a painter-printmaker, in 1910. Mueller then joined Die Brücke (The Bridge), the group Kirchner had helped found in 1905, which was instrumental in promoting Expressionism. The period between 1915 and 1919 marked Kirchner’s most concentrated and productive phase of work with portrait prints, which he made primarily as large-format woodcuts. In this depiction of Mueller, Kirchner used a spare, planar composition and broad areas of undifferentiated color to depict his subject’s sharp features. He painted on a single block with a brush and varying colors; thus, each print is unique. The cobalt-blue striated forms that emanate from the figure’s right and from the side of his head in this print are abstract representations of the painted bands that decorated Kirchner’s studio wall, against which Mueller posed. These bands, which Kirchner painted himself, exemplify his adoption of motifs and styles from Palauan art of the South Pacific and resonate with Mueller’s own fondness for African-inspired furniture and wall paintings. Indeed, his hieratic, frontal position may suggest his interest in Egyptian art.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Title

Portrait of Otto Mueller

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.

1915

Medium

Color woodcut with charcoal on cream wove paper

Dimensions

Image/block: 27.3 × 54.6 cm (10 3/4 × 21 1/2 in.); Sheet: 30.2 × 55 cm (11 15/16 × 21 11/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Dr. Eugene A. Solow in honor of Paulette Solow, Judy Solow Kleckner, Bryan Kleckner and Gabrielle Kleckner

Reference Number

1988.433

Extended information about this artwork

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.

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