Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Drawings of the Apocalypse

Abstract

This essay presents a series of previously unpublished drawings by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) that are part of the Getty Research Institute's special collections. Dated to 1917, the drawings depict 11 scenes of the Apocalypse and one self‐portrait with Death. It has so far remained largely unknown that the German artist had engaged in the biblical story of the Revelation, which, in a state of general existential anxiety at the beginning of the 20th century, was negotiated by several artists. When executing these drawings, Kirchner was in a miserable physical and mental condition, moving from sanatorium to sanatorium and finally to the Swiss mountains. The paper examines the historical and biographical context in which the drawings were created and offers reasons for Kirchner's interest in the topic. Furthermore, the essay compares Kirchner's works to the famous Apocalypse woodcut series by Albrecht Dürer, highlighting differences and similarities in the selection and rendition of scenes from the biblical narrative.