Mountain with Cattle

1918 · Painting

Über das Gemälde

German painter Ernst Kirchner presents a tranquil bird’s-eye view of a herd of cattle grazing in the majestic Swiss Alps. The forms in the landscape are abstracted: the cows, farmer, mountaineer, hilly green terrain, flowing stream, purple and pink mountain peaks, and spiky trees. Kirchner painted the colorful scene soon after emigrating to Switzerland from Germany. He had sought medical treatment there after suffering a mental crisis and physical collapse while serving as an artillery driver in World War I and had developed an addiction to narcotics. The grand, vibrant scene seems to encapsulate the artist’s experience of nature in Switzerland at this sensitive moment of his recovery. Kirchner wrote in 1918, “Down below in the valley the cabins stand out in the boldest Paris blue against the yellow fields. For the first time here one really gets to know the worth of individual colors. And, in the bargain, the stark monumentality of the rows of mountains.”

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Angaben

Derweil im Leben von Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Das ganze Leben

October 1916
An exhibition in Frankfurt: many works sold
After an exhibition at Ludwig Schames’s gallery in Frankfurt am Main in October 1916 Kirchner sold many works and began to do well financially; throughout 1916 he returned to his Berlin studio for a few weeks at a time, and in Königstein he painted a series of oils and many drawings.
summer 1917
The Reusch Hut on the Stafelalp
Resenting Dr. Spengler’s constant watch and doing all he could to deceive him, Kirchner moved to the Reusch Hut on the Stafelalp in the summer of 1917; Erna Schilling stayed in Berlin, looking after the apartment and studio and keeping up commercial and personal contacts in Germany.
19 January 1917
First trip to Davos
On 19 January 1917 Kirchner arrived in Davos at the invitation of Helene Spengler, prompted by Eberhard Grisebach; he saw an exhibition of Ferdinand Hodler’s paintings but, because of exceptionally cold weather, returned to Berlin after only ten days.
April 1917
Death of Botho Graef and the decision to return to Davos
In April 1917 Kirchner’s close friend and mentor Botho Graef died; Kirchner decided to return to Davos for treatment under the lung specialist Dr. Lucius Spengler, who forced him to keep to strict rules and routine.
1917–1918
The Bellevue Sanatorium in Kreuzlingen
At the end of August 1917 Kirchner was visited once more by Henry van de Velde, through whose good offices he was admitted to Ludwig Binswanger’s Bellevue Sanatorium in Kreuzlingen, where he went on painting and making woodcuts.