The Kunstmuseum Bern has opened a spectacular exhibition featuring the works of German Expressionist painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, highlighted by the dramatic transport of a massive painting from the German Chancellery in Berlin. The exhibition, titled "Kirchner x Kirchner," showcases approximately 65 works by the artist who made Davos his adopted home, while simultaneously paying homage to a historic 1933 exhibition.
In a remarkable feat of logistics, a crane was used to lower a wooden crate measuring approximately 13 by 6.5 feet from the fifth floor of the Federal Chancellery building in Berlin. The crate contained Kirchner's monumental oil painting "Sunday of the Mountain Farmers," which had hung in the cabinet meeting room for decades and was frequently visible in the background during televised government sessions. Due to the painting's enormous dimensions, the artwork had to be transported across the Chancellery's terrace and lowered by crane into the courtyard before beginning its journey to Bern.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is widely regarded as one of the most important representatives of German Expressionism. The current exhibition not only celebrates his artistic achievements but also serves as a commentary on a significant show that took place in Bern in 1933. At that time, Kirchner was living in Davos and personally curated his own exhibition at the Kunsthalle. "The current exhibition is a commentary on the one from 1933," explains Nadine Franci, curator at the Kunstmuseum. "I'm interested in the artist's view of himself. What did he want to show about himself, what did he leave out?"
Kirchner's distinctive artistic style is characterized by bold, vibrant colors that create emotional intensity. His figures, spaces, and landscapes are often distorted, with brushstrokes that appear raw and direct. The artist frequently employed contrasting colors, particularly blues, greens, and reds, giving his work a primitive yet sophisticated quality. In the current exhibition, Franci has deliberately created connections between the works, explaining, "When hanging the paintings, it was important to me that certain design elements become traceable from picture to picture, almost migrating from one to another." This principle was also applied by Kirchner himself in 1933 to create an organic whole.
The centerpiece of the exhibition features two large-format paintings: "Sunday of the Mountain Farmers" (the loan from the Berlin Chancellery) and "Alpine Sunday" (from the Kunstmuseum Bern's collection). Created around 1920, these paintings form a pair depicting scenes from the lives of the mountain population in Davos. Both works use contrasting colors, particularly blue, green, and red tones, with angular and stylized figures that radiate tranquility and dignity. Although the paintings were created as a pair, they had not been displayed together since the 1933 Bern exhibition.
"How strongly the pictures corresponded only became clear to me when the loan from Berlin arrived in Bern," recalls Nadine Franci. "When I saw the painting with its colors in front of me, it was like scales falling from my eyes." The reunion of these companion pieces represents a significant moment in art history, allowing viewers to experience Kirchner's vision as originally intended.
Kirchner's life was both brief and tumultuous. Born in Aschaffenburg in 1880, he studied architecture in Dresden before founding the artist group "Die Brücke" (The Bridge) in 1905 with like-minded individuals dedicated to renewing art. Over the following years, Kirchner developed his expressive style featuring luminous colors and angular forms. The First World War led to a severe psychological crisis, causing Kirchner to permanently retreat to Davos in 1917. There, he found new artistic themes in the lives of mountain farmers and created some of his most significant works.
Tragically, in 1937, the Nazis condemned Kirchner's works as "degenerate" and removed them from German museums. One year later, in 1938, Kirchner took his own life in Davos. By curating his own exhibition in 1933, Kirchner was able to control what image he wanted to project to the public. Curator Franci speculates about what the artist might think of the current presentation: "He probably would have criticized the hanging of the large-format pictures. Photographs from 1933 show that the pictures were hung very low, so the audience could feel like they were right among the figures." For architectural reasons, this is not possible today.
What Kirchner would likely have particularly appreciated about the current exhibition is its recognition of his late work – those paintings created after the 1933 exhibition. This allows visitors to trace how his visual language developed over the years, providing a comprehensive view of his artistic evolution. The exhibition runs through early 2026, offering art enthusiasts a rare opportunity to see these masterpieces reunited and to gain new insights into one of Expressionism's most influential figures.
