Kirchner and Marc: artistic and intellectual connections

Art

Utopian Images of the Natural State

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's "Bathers Beneath Trees" and Franz Marc's "Bathing Girls." are paintings of the same subject; three women in nature getting ready to bathe and, or, swim. Both are utopian visions of what each artist felt was ideal. The utopian representation of both artists is seen in the use of an idealistic notion of freedom and a personal response to nature. Freedom is seen in the comfortable presence of the nudes and the use of color in nature reflects the artists' perception of utopian existence.

Bathers Beneath Trees is replete with the colors of the island paradise Kirchner thought of as his utopian vision. The tall trees reach to the top of the painting and are done in dark greens with the tree trunks allowed to come forward with the color yellow against a blue and green skyscape. The only blue in the painting is seen in the horizon and part of the skyscape. The depiction of the horizon is a deep royal blue and is reminiscent of an image of earth from space. The sky is filled with a lighter blue mixed with dark blue and a medium green. The foliage at the bottom of the picture carries over the green of the treetops and the color of the women's skin is what is set in contrast.

Two of the women are standing, one in three quarter profile and the other straight on to the audience. The woman slightly behind has a smile on her face. They seem to be in the act of walking down a path - perhaps toward the water. The third woman sits in a somewhat awkward position facing the path (or at least the feet of the other two women). The foliage is dark green and outlined in black, giving it a sense of depth and darkness that brings to mind the word, 'fecund'.

Nature in this painting has the warm appeal of a mother's soothing arms or nurturing womb. There is no fear, nor is there any worry - just a sense of calm contentment that envelops all that come to partake.

Franz Marc's depiction of Bathing Girls is as filled with light and merriment as Kirchner's painting is full of dense greenery. The trees in this painting bend and sway with a feeling of playful merriment while the three bathers stand and play around a rock painted in white with shadow and greenery. The yellow sky/background swirls around the women and lifts the arms of the trees in a manner reflective of one bather's act of arranging her hair. The women's hair is the color of corn husks two days before harvest and this same light auburn or orange hued brown is repeated in the rocks under their feet. The blue of the sky and water enlivens the painting, while it adds a sense of stability by being the only truly vertical presentation.

The tree on the left, next to the woman managing her hair, is embracing the rock on which it sits. The nudes are done in simple line and shadow; one standing, one bending over and one sitting on the rock in the foreground. Each is engrossed in their own activity and each presents a different view of the process of bathing. All seem confident in their posture and stance, with the standing woman having one foot on the rock, the sitting woman with one leg dangling in the water and the bending woman looking into the background so that her face is away from the audience. Nature here is involved in the joy of living as it happily joins in with those creatures that have come to frolic in the sun and dip their digits in the cooling water.

Looking at Kirchner's Trees in Autumn for comparison, the viewer is again almost 'assaulted' by the deep and dark use of the primary colors. Here, the red in the trees carries a hint of orange and is allowed lighter colors as the sun finds its way filtered through a more dense stand of trees than seen in 'bathers'. Still, the darkness of the shades of red, green and blue is made only slightly less formidable than the trees in 'Bathers' as a result of the use of light. Nature here is a place animals may call home and people are welcome to walk the path into the sunlight.

Marc's Bathing Girls with town in background is much closer in style and presentation to Kirchner's paintings than to Marc's other work, Bathers', even though he continues to use lighter shades of yellow, blue and green, they are used in the same manner as Kirchner's Trees in Autumn as a representation of sunlight through the denseness of a tropical forest. Here too there are three women, drawn together in a standing circle, more, it seems, for protection than for companionship. This painting includes an onlooker on the right whose head is shaded in darkness but whose hand stands out against the grain of the rock upon which he or she sits. Nature here is abundant, able to hide secrets and to instill fear.

Landscape paintings that include female nudes are not uncommon and both of these artists utilize the expressionist style to do so. The differences between their visions are seen more in the landscape and, especially, in the manner of use of colors than in the presentation of women in the act of bathing. Both artists use natural tone and shade for the models, although Kirchner depicts the skin as darker and more 'Polynesian' in feel - somewhat akin to Gauguin.