Skip to main content

Basel with the Rhine

Date
1927–28
Material
Oil on canvas
(not assigned)
Germany, Europe
Classification
Paintings
Current Location
On View, Gallery 214
Dimensions
47 3/16 × 79 1/8 in. (119.9 × 201 cm)
framed: 54 1/2 × 86 1/2 in. (138.4 × 219.7 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Rights
Public Domain
Object Number
258:1948
NOTES
Vibrant lilac, teal, and salmon pink compete for attention with the medieval buildings of Basel, Switzerland. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner wrote about his art from this period, "Color is the main appeal of my pictures." Here, key colors repeat to create a visual rhythm. One example is the purple that appears in the sidewalk, woman's clothes, shadows on the riverbank, and rooftops. This repetition gives the scene an unexpected harmony.
- 1948
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938); Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Estate, Switzerland [1]

1948
Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, NY, USA

1948 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from the Kirchner Estate through Buchholz Gallery [2]


Notes:
[1] The painting bears the stamp of the Kirchner Estate.

[2] The museum's purchase of this painting through the Buchholz Gallery is documented by correspondence and an invoice dated May 17, 1948 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, October 22, 1948.

We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.

Scroll back to top