Bern with Belltower

1933

First retrospective in Bern

In 1933 the first retrospective of Kirchner’s work was held in Bern.

1933

The Nazis in power: works taken from museums

The Nazis who had come to power harshly criticised Kirchner and his Brücke comrades and removed their works from museums. Kirchner took it extremely painfully: one of the chief aims of the Brücke had been precisely the development of German art, and he considered his own work its quintessence.

1934

Meets Paul Klee in Bern

In 1934 Kirchner visited Bern and Zurich, finding Bern more to his liking, and met Paul Klee.

1937

“Degenerate art”: 639 works removed

In 1937 the Nazis classed Kirchner as a “degenerate” artist: 639 of his works were removed from German museums, some of them destroyed, and 25 paintings were shown at the “Degenerate Art” exhibition, which Hitler personally declared an “insult to the nation.”

1937

Expelled from the Prussian Academy of Arts

In 1937 Kirchner was forced to resign from the Prussian Academy of Arts; the Academy in Berlin expelled him as a member.

1937

First solo museum show in the US, in Detroit

In 1937 the Detroit Institute of Arts held Kirchner’s first solo museum exhibition in the United States.