COMMENTS TO MY PAGE "ART POSTCARDS WITH A RAILWAY MOTIVE"

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Eisenbahnüberführung Löblauer Strasse Dresden  (1910/1926)

Kirchner found the view through a railway bridge of the corner building at the junction of Roßthaler Strasse and Löbtauer Strasse in the western district of Dresden-Friedrichstadt very close to his studio. The elements of the bridge that frame the image are shown from slightly below. The intersection, on the other hand, is depicted more strongly from above. This combination of different perspectives creates the tension of the composition. Bridge structures were indeed a defining feature of the district surrounded by railway tracks; Vincent van Gogh's 1888 painting "Railway Bridge over Avenue Montmajour, Arles," which was exhibited in Dresden in 1905 and in Berlin in 1910, probably also provided direct inspiration. Kirchner's landscape paintings around 1910 were characterized by a very open application of paint, which, however, is hardly recognizable here because the artist heavily reworked his paintings in 1926. He closed the color areas and increased contrasts, such as the blue and green areas against the superimposed red of the brick cornices or the bands of yellow bricks at the dam breakthrough. The subsequent emphasis on the outlines also increased the flatness of the depiction. As a result, the women strolling in white coats appear isolated from one another, and the silhouette of the red man under the bridge appears shadowy. Only in this new color treatment do they recall protagonists from contemporary literature, who represent human alienation in the modern metropolis. Owned by the artist until 1938, and acquired from his estate in the late 1950s. Acquired from private ownership in 1999.

Source: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

March 18th 2025

 

 
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