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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) - German artist, who has spearheaded the expressionism. His tragic fate - a reflection of shocks faced by Europe in the first half of the 20th century. Plagued by a fashionable drug morphine and neurasthenia, with crippled during World War mentality and finally trampled by the Nazis on the eve of World War II, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner spent not so much his personal history as the history of Germany at that time.

In 1905 he became a founding member and ideologue of the artistic group "The Bridge" (Die Brücke), which were later joined by Vasily Kandinsky, August Macke, Alexei von Jawlensky. His interpretation of the purpose of his art sounds like "the formation of characters, in which the visible world makes it possible to see the hidden inside of creation." At Kirchner influenced Vincent van Gogh, Albrecht Durer, and the art of the Etruscans and the primitive peoples of Africa. Expressionism of the century meant the achievement of special, often grotesque expression. Nerve broken lines on the canvas, acquired an independent significance, the main colors were vivid yellow, blue and red in the images dominated by contrasts, simplified forms and crisp black outlines.

Shortly after moving to Berlin in 1912, Kirchner was at odds with members of the "bridge" and began to work independently. At this time, he created his best work. Expression of Kirchner makes the streets intolerable hostile environment, which can kill a human being. The painting "Street Scene in Berlin" (1913) are plotted as a smear in a fever, and it evokes a feeling of vague anxiety, like a premonition of the coming of World War II. Ladies and frantovatye men are like birds of prey, ready to attack the victim. Recently at Christie's, one of the options that the painting was sold for $ 38 million to billionaire Ronald Lauder.

In 1914, Kirchner went to the front as a volunteer and served as a gunner at Halle. A year later he was the reserve for health reasons. Was treated several times in the Swiss sanatorium from severe depression. Shattered physical and mental health is reflected in the artist's painting "Self Portrait in uniform" (1915), which shows a man pulling up the bloody stump of his right hand - a symbol of the creative power of the fading. After the war, Kirchner suffered a nervous disorder, suffered bouts of anxiety and became addicted to morphine. Contemporaries spoke of him as a prudent, short-tempered and extremely suspicious the man under the influence of depression and drug use, these qualities have only intensified.

In 1917 the artist moved to Our Lady, near Davos, Switzerland and some cured him. Urban scenes gave way to mountain scenery, the pictures became more positive. In 1922 he moved to a villa called "House of wild land," where he ended his days. In the late 20-ies of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner are recognized, exhibited in museums, on its release of the monograph, in 1928 he took part in the Venice Biennale. In 1933, authorities in Germany the Nazis came, and Kirchner - a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts and active creative activity - was expelled from the academy, and 639 of his works - removed from museums throughout Germany and included a demonstration in the exhibition "Degenerate Art". Humiliation and panic fear of war again brought Kirchner to alcohol and morphine.

He began paranoia, it seemed to him that the Nazis would get to him, even in neutral Switzerland. Under the influence of manic depression, he shot himself at his home in the Frauenkirche in 1938 at the age of 58 years.