Artwork
Two Girls under an Umbrella
Two Girls under an Umbrella is an oil painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. It dates from 1910 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:across top reverse: Zwei Mädchen / [...] / E L Kirchner; stamped upper left reverse: NACHLASS E.L.KIRCHNER / Dre/Bf15 [Kirchner Estate seal; "Dre" = Dresden]
About this work
Technique & Style
Brushwork remains energetic yet controlled, with areas of thick impasto contrasting against smoother passages that suggest the texture of fabric and skin.
Painted in oil on canvas, Two Girls under an Umbrella depicts two figures beneath a striped canopy rendered in bold, flat planes of color and stark outlines characteristic of Kirchner's mature expressionist style. The work balances decorative patterning with a simplified, almost sculptural handling of the figures, emphasizing the surface tension of the picture plane while retaining a sense of spatial depth through overlapping forms. Brushwork remains energetic yet controlled, with areas of thick impasto contrasting against smoother passages that suggest the texture of fabric and skin. These compositional choices reflect the artist's focus on psychological immediacy and formal abstraction within the portrait genre.
The painting measures 95.3 cm in height and 80.3 cm in width, confirming its scale as a relatively intimate yet formally assertive canvas within Kirchner's oeuvre.
The composition, while rooted in contemporary portraiture, departs from naturalistic representation through its flattened spatial logic and heightened chromatic contrasts, aligning it with the broader stylistic concerns of the expressionist movement while maintaining a distinct decorative sensibility.
History & Provenance
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner painted Two Girls under an Umbrella in 1910. Following the artist's death in 1938, the work passed to his estate in Basel. It was subsequently handled by Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer in Campione bei Lugano, Switzerland, before entering a private collection.
Arnold A. Saltzman (1916–2014) and Joan R. Saltzman (1919–2019) of Sands Point, New York, acquired the painting and in 1992 made a partial and promised gift to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the gift was completed in 2020. The painting is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
The painting Two Girls under an Umbrella by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Its acquisition history traces from the artist and his estate in Basel to the Arnold A. and Joan R. Saltzman collection in Sands Point, New York. The work entered the museum as a partial and promised gift in 1992, with the gift completed in 2020.
While the specific accession number is not provided in the available records, the work is cataloged within the National Gallery of Art's holdings. The provided sources do not list any specific exhibitions where this painting has been displayed.
Overview
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner painted Two Girls under an Umbrella in 1910 using oil on canvas. The work presents two nude women positioned in an open landscape, linked by a red umbrella that hovers behind them. The scene is rendered with vivid greens, yellows, and reds, characteristic of the early Expressionist palette, and the composition is organized around simplified, almost graphic forms.
Subject & Meaning
The canvas depicts a pair of women in a rural setting: the figure on the left, dark‑haired, rests her right hand on her chest, while the woman on the right, wearing a hat, gazes straight ahead. The umbrella, bright red, unites the two figures and suggests a shared shelter or intimacy within the expansive, flower‑dotted field.
Context
Two Girls under an Umbrella belongs to the period when Kirchner and his Die Brücke colleagues were exploring urban and rural motifs through a bold, emotive visual syntax. The painting’s playful composition and vivid coloration echo the group’s interest in youthful vitality, while the simplified forms signal a departure from naturalistic representation toward a more subjective, expressive vision.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker.
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