For a time, German Expressionist artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, (1880 – 1938), painted the seamy, underworld of the Berlin streets (“ladies of the evening” with their furs and boat-like hats).
A group of paintings, along with drawings, from a series done between 1913 and 1915 are on display at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC until November. According to the catalogue, “these works exude the vitality, decadence, and underlying mood of imminent danger that characterized Berlin on the eve of World War I.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner until November 10, 2008
“Berliner Strassenszen”, oil on canvas, 1913-1914