Nude Dancer
Medium
woodcut in black on buff paper
Dimensions
block: 13.8 x 11.6 cm (5 7/16 x 4 9/16 in.) sheet: 18.7 x 17.8 cm (7 3/8 x 7 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Andrew Robison, in honor of Ruth Cole Kainen
Accession Number
2004.82.1
Art Historical Context
**Nude Dancer, 1906** Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's *Nude Dancer* is striking woodcut print from the early days of German Expressionism. Created in 1906, this ink on buff paper measures a compact 13.8 x 11.6 cm for the block, capturing a dynamic female figure in motion. As a foundational work in Kirchner's oeuvre, it embodies the raw energy of the human form, with bold, angular lines that twist and elongate the dancer's body. Kirchner co-founded Die Brücke (The Bridge) group in Dresden in 1905, rebelling against academic traditions to infuse art with primal emotion and modern vitality. Influenced...
About the Artist
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1880–1938
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was born on May 6, 1880, in Aschaffenburg, Germany, to parents Ernst and Maria Kirchner, part of a family of Prussian descent that frequently relocated due to his father's career as a chemical technician. After early schooling in various towns, he studied architecture at the Königliche Technische Hochschule (Technical University) in Dresden from 1901 to 1905, taking courses i...