Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte: Schlemihl in der Einsamkeit des Zimmers (Peter Schlemihl's Wondrous Story: Schlemihl in the Solitude of His Room)

Kirchner achieved the vivid, flat coloration by printing successive layers from two separate wood blocks, a method that yields sharp contours and stark color juxtapositions. The palette—deep blacks, cool blues, and intense yellows—combined with angular lines produces a slightly disorienting visual tension characteristic of early Expressionist printmaking.

Created during Kirchner’s involvement with Die Brücke, the work belongs to a period when the group was shaping German Expressionism. The print’s provenance traces back to the artist’s early print series, though specific ownership details after its creation remain limited in the record.

The piece emerges amid World War I, a time when many German artists explored inner turmoil and societal fragmentation. Kirchner’s choice of the Schlemihl legend aligns with contemporary preoccupations with identity, displacement, and the psychological impact of modernity.