Who painted Still Life?

Still Life was painted by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 1907.

Where can I see Still Life?

Still Life is held by National Gallery of Art.

Can I buy a print of Still Life?

Museum-quality prints of Still Life are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Still Life

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner , 1907

Still Life is an ink print by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. It dates from 1907 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

The composition balances simple objects with a dynamic, almost chaotic background, characteristic of early twentieth‑century expressionist printmaking.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s 1907 work *Still Life* is a color lithograph that employs a limited palette of yellow, blue and red. The image presents a bright tabletop laden with plates and a solitary red flower in a vase, set against a stylised palm frond rendered in sweeping blue‑green strokes. The composition balances simple objects with a dynamic, almost chaotic background, characteristic of early twentieth‑century expressionist printmaking.

Subject & Meaning

The print depicts everyday objects—a stack of plates, a vase with a single bloom—arranged on a vivid yellow surface. Behind them, a leaning palm tree, its foliage suggested by thick, wavy lines, introduces an exotic, almost dreamlike element. The juxtaposition of ordinary domestic items with a stylised natural motif reflects the expressionist aim to heighten emotional resonance through bold colour contrasts and exaggerated forms.

Technique & Style

Created through lithography, Kirchner layered three separate colour plates—yellow, blue and red—to achieve the striking chromatic effects. The lines are rendered with a loose, uneven hand, resembling rapid drawing rather than meticulous engraving. This approach allows for the expressive, gestural quality of the foliage and the flat, graphic treatment of the tableware, merging print precision with painterly spontaneity.

History & Provenance

Kirchner, a co‑founder of the avant‑garde collective Die Brücke, produced the work during the group’s formative years. Although celebrated in the early 1910s, his oeuvre later suffered under the Nazi regime, which labeled his output as “degenerate art.” The print’s survival attests to its continued circulation despite the political suppression of its creator’s broader body of work.

Context

*Still Life* emerges at a moment when German artists were rejecting academic realism in favor of heightened emotional expression. Die Brücke sought to break conventional boundaries, and Kirchner’s use of vivid primary colours and simplified forms aligns with this rebellious spirit. The work’s focus on everyday objects rendered with exaggerated hue anticipates later developments in modernist still‑life representation.