简介：InTheLifeAndArtOfErnestLudwigKirchner,directorMichaelTrabitzschboldlybraidstogetherthedisparatestrandsoftheAustrianExpressionist'slifeandwork--combiningcolorwithblackandwhitephotography,thirdpersonnarrationwithfirstpersonconfessionsfromKirchner'sownnotebooks,andanangularjazzscorewiththemelodiesofKirchner'sday."Weclaimasourowneveryonewhoreproducesdirectlyandwithoutfalsificationwhateveritisthatdriveshimtocreate."Thesewords,carvedintowoodandhungin1904atthebutchershopgroupstudioofDieBrucke("thebridge")bytheirauthor,Kirchner,wereacredothatdrovetheartistandhisworkwellbeyondthelifeofthefamedDresdenartcollective.Thoughthethousandsofdrawings,woodblockprints,lithographsandpaintingsKirchnercreatedbetweentheturnofthecenturyandhissuicidein1938,brandeda"degenerate"artistbytheNazis,Kirchner'svolcaniclifeandturbulenttimeswere,inthewordsofcriticWolf-DieterDube,"madevisibleinhispictures,whereitsurvivestoastonishanddisturbposterity."FromartisticadolescencewithDieBruckeinprovincialDresden,throughsojournsintheAustrianandSwisscountryside,toobsessionandself-destructioninBerlin,Kirchner'slifeandartdefinetheculturalgive-and-takebetweenromance,reformandrevolutionthattransformedEuropeatthebeginningofthelastcentury.OfagenerationofartistslikePaulKlee,Kandinsky,andevenMatisse,whowalkedatight-ropestretchedbetweenthetraditionsofthe19thcenturyandtheexperimentationofthe20th,Kirchnerbecame,ascriticDubesays,"thefirsttoexpresstheexperienceofalargemoderncity.Inpicturesthatlooklikeengravingspaintedinoils,heinventedacoloringwithoutprecedentinthehistoryofart."…