Chalk drawing
With estate stamp of the Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570 b) and the written registration number "B Dre/Bg 16" on verso. On light brownish wove paper. 44,2 x 34 cm (17,4 x 13,3 in), size of sheet

This work is documented in the Ernst Ludwig Kirchner archive, Wichtrach/Bern.

PROVENANCE: Private collection South Germany.

The drawings from around 1900 are characterized by rounded and soft shapes. The freedom of the spontaneous style is in accordance with the freedom of the image. What had been perceived as obscene in earlier times, has now become the object of artistic exploration. Kircher consciously restricts himself to some swiftly sketched lines that outline the nude body. This short, almost factual statement takes away the subject’s primarily erotic component and makes it a plain nude illustration. [KD].