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Self-Portrait as a SoldierSelf-Portrait as a Soldier © Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, USA/Charles F. Olney Fund/The Bridgeman Art Library

Self-Portrait as a Soldier

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. 1915 C.E. Oil on canvas.

Curator Note

"A psychological self-portrait painted after Kirchner was discharged from the army. He depicts himself in uniform with a severed right hand (his painting hand) and a nude model behind him. It is a metaphor for his artistic impotence and castration anxiety caused by the trauma of war. The jagged, angular style reflects his shattered mental state."

Form

  • Die Brücke (German Expressionism).
  • Angular, jagged lines.
  • Acidic, sickly colors (green skin).
  • Distorted perspective.
  • Rough, aggressive brushwork.

Function

  • To express personal and generational trauma.
  • To protest the war.
  • To visualize a mental breakdown.
  • To mourn the loss of artistic creativity.
  • To create an "ugly" truth.

Content

  • Severed hand: clearly metaphorical (he didn't lose his hand), symbol of inability to paint.
  • Soldier's uniform: symbol of restriction/service.
  • Nude model: represents art/life, but he is turned away.
  • Smoking cigarette: anxiety.
  • Empty eyes: hollowness.

Context

  • Kirchner "faked" mental illness to escape the trenches (or had a real breakdown).
  • Die Brücke group admired "Primitive" art.
  • The "degenerate" art label by Nazis later.
  • Reflects the devastation of WWI on the individual.
  • Nietzsche influence (The Bridge to the future).