Milliner with Hat (Modistin mit Hut)

The sharp contrast between the yellow paper and black contours of this vibrant portrait emphasizes its abstracted quality, as well as the expressive power of color and form. It most likely depicts Ernst Kirchner’s lover and favorite model at the time, Doris Grosse, whom he often portrayed wearing large, elaborate hats. Kirchner was a founding member of the German Expressionist group Die Brücke (The Bridge) and created more than two thousand prints during his career. Of printmaking he said: “The technical procedures doubtless release energies in the artist that remain unused in the much more lightweight processes of drawing or painting. . . . There is no better place to get to know an artist than in his graphic work.”