Rethinking Kirchner, Hardcover

German painter and printmaker Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) was one of the most important artistic personalities of the twentieth century, and a founding figure of expressionism. After his work was labeled "degenerate" by the Nazis, hundreds of his works were sold or destroyed. Kirchner committed suicide in 1938 in the face of this persecution. In 2018, a conference was held in Kirchner's home city of Davos to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of his death. Growing out of the conference, this lavishly illustrated volume brings together international experts on Kirchner who offer a multifaceted overview of an oeuvre that has lost none of its topicality to this day. Kirchner's work is discussed here against a background of art-historical, sociocultural, and historical contexts. The contributors also delve into his interest in and study of non-European cultures, literature, philosophy, art criticism, and the role of the artist to provide new and exciting points of contact for today's art-theoretical and art-critical observations.

Martina Nommsen is the exhibition manager at the Art Centre Basel. Annick Haldemann is a curator and the artistic director of the Kirchner Museum Davos.