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On chamois laid paper. The only known print by the artist to date. With the estate stamp and the inscription ‘H Dre/Aa 2’ on the verso.
Earlier catalogues raisonnés: Not in Schiefler
Kirchner depicts a sunset over a landscape with just a few lines, reduced to the essentials. It is a wide landscape, probably captured by the artist from an elevated viewpoint. In the foreground, a wide path can be seen coming from the right and leading to a round square in the centre of the picture. A cloud of smoke rises from the centre. Possibly there is a fireplace there. The path is flanked by fields or meadows, which Kirchner suggests with gently curving lines. A group of trees appears on the right, possibly a forest clearing.
On the left, elongated houses can be seen on the horizon, which could possibly be a farm. In the sky, the last of the sunlight emerges from behind a cloud. The strong black and white contrast emphasises the evening atmosphere, but also lends the depiction a mysterious quality.
Kirchner’s woodcut was created at the beginning of his artistic career and in a significant year for him. In 1905, he had graduated as an architect and founded the artists’ association “Brücke” with his fellow students Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Stylistically, the woodcut is still very close to the designs of his studies, which were created in the spirit of Art Nouveau. Due to the framing line of the composition, the work is also conceivable as decoration for a larger interior design.
As Kirchner took up the motif of the sunset several times at this time, it seems to have had a deeper meaning for him. He may have been symbolising the completion of his studies, which marked the end of a period in his life as well as a break with his parents’ expectations. He may have tried to process this artistically in his woodcut.
