Ernst
Ludwig Kirchner

Kirchner's masterpiece Berliner Strassenszene (1913-14) achieved his auction record when it sold at Christie's New York in November 2006, dramatically surpassing its pre-sale estimate by $10 million. This iconic painting depicts two elegantly dressed cocottes (prostitutes) strolling confidently through a bustling Berlin street, surrounded by anonymous bowler-hatted men with a number 15 tram visible in the background. The composition captures the dynamic energy of urban life through intersecting directional lines that keep the viewer's eye moving. This work falls within Kirchner's crucial Berlin period (1911-14), and belongs to his famous series of “Strassenbilder” that are widely recognised as among the foremost pictorial achievements of early 20th century art. Despite the physical proximity of figures in the composition, there is a profound sense of isolation - no gazes meet, highlighting the alienation of individuals within the crowd. The painting has a poignant history as part of a forced sale under the Nazis when Hans Hess and his widowed mother had to flee Germany. After changing hands multiple times, it was purchased by the Brücke Museum in Berlin in 1980, before being returned to Hans Hess' daughter following restitution negotiations.

Das Soldatenbad (1915), the title of which translates to “Artillerymen,” achieved this result when it sold at Sotheby's New York in November 2018. The painting depicts soldiers bathing, created during a pivotal moment in Kirchner's life while he was serving in the military during World War I, shortly before he suffered a nervous breakdown that led to his discharge. The painting has a complex provenance that reflects the tumultuous history of the period. It was originally owned by Jewish art dealer Alfred Flechtheim, who was forced to flee Germany in 1933 due to Nazi persecution. The painting subsequently passed through several hands, including Nazi party member Kurt Feldhäusser in 1938, before eventually entering the Guggenheim Museum's collection in 1988. After extensive provenance research, the Guggenheim restituted the painting to Flechtheim's heirs in 2018, acknowledging its questionable history. This top 10 sale saw the piece go to Norway's Sparebankstiftelsen for the National Gallery in Oslo, reflecting the foundation's policy of acquiring important works for Norwegian museums with limited acquisition budgets.

Sold at Christie's New York in November 2015, Im See Badende Mädchen, Moritzburg (1909) (Girls Bathing, Lake Moritzburg) is one of the first works from a series of seminal paintings that Kirchner created during three transformative summers at the Moritzburg lakes between 1909 and 1911. This vivid scene depicts three nude women lounging at the shoreline and in the waters of the lake, painted using loose, expressive gestural strokes of unmixed primary and secondary colours. This period at Moritzburg represented a crucial turning point in the development of the Die Brücke group, allowing Kirchner and Erich Heckel to work side by side in a natural environment. Colour became an expressive force for Kirchner, rather than a means of description. The green bodies of the nudes, highlighted with flaming strokes of orange, yellow and red, stand in direct, luminous contrast with the vivid blue of the lake. Interestingly, though painted in 1909, Kirchner pre-dated this work to 1907 in an attempt to falsify claims that he had been influenced by Henri Matisse and instead maintain that he was developing his style independently.