The Visit - Couple and Newcomer

1922

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Associated Names
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Artist, German, 1880 - 1938

This painting depicts three individuals in a colorful interior. A man on the left is standing on steps that are coming up from below. He wears a green suit with a white shirt underneath it and holds a hat. His hair appears gray, and he's looking up at a woman standing at the top of the stairs. The woman is turned to the left, looking down at him, with her hands on top of the stair railing. She is wearing a blue striped dress and has short, dark hair. On the right, a man is seated on a patterned orange-and-blue sofa, holding something near his mouth and wearing a green suit. He is also facing the left, looking towards the stairs, and there is a small green window behind him. The people’s skin is painted in shades of pink, purple, and teal. The background of the image includes bold horizontal stripes of red and yellow, with some areas of green behind the man in the chair. The colors in the painting are bright and vibrant, and have been applied with thick, visible brushstrokes.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1880-1938]; his estate; (Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich);[1] purchased by Ruth Cole Kainen [1922-2009] and Jacob [1909-2001] Kainen, Chevy Chase, Maryland; gift (partial and promised) 1989 to NGA; gift completed 2012.
[1] Provenance according to Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, Exh. cat., Washington, D.C., 1991: 314-315.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1925

  • Probably Galerie Ludwig Schames, Frankfurt, 1925, no. 30.

1980

  • Ausstellung Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Gemälde Aquarelle Zeichnungen Graphik Plastik, Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich; Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione d'Italia Switzerland, 1980, no. 25, repro.

1991

  • Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Natoinal Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1991, unnumbered catalogue, color repro.

1992

  • Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Paintings, Drawings and Prints, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1992, no cat.

2003

  • Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1880-1938 [London title: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: The Dresden and Berlin Years], National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2003, no. 189, repro., as The Visit (shown only in Washington).

Bibliography

1968

  • Gordon, Donald E. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1968: 367, no. 693, repro.

2009

  • Cooper, Harry. The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection: Selected Works. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2009: 18, repro.

Inscriptions

upper left reverse: ELKirchner

Wikidata ID

Q20192437

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