Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Dance at the Variety Theater

You can see the video «Ernst Ludwig Kirchners Tanz im Varieté - Kunstmuseum Basel» here.

Tanz im Varieté by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) has been part of the Im Obersteg collection since June 2024. The painting was considered lost for almost a century, when its existence was only documented by black-and-white photographs. The work was created in 1911 as one of the last works in Dresden before Kirchner moved to the German capital, Berlin.

Here Kirchner painted the cakewalk, a dance that became popular in Europe from 1900. It was created during the time of slavery in the USA to parody the dances of white culture. In the northern states, the dance was adopted by minstrel shows, in which white people performed in blackface. The cakewalk thus became a parody of the African Americans who had developed it. It was not until the turn of the century that Black dancers were allowed to perform this dance on theater stages. Performances soon took place throughout Europe, and the cakewalk found its way onto Kirchner’s canvas in Tanz im Varieté.

Dance, vaudeville, and the circus form an important cluster of motifs in Kirchner’s oeuvre. Kirchner sought his inspiration in life, in encounters between people on the street, or in vaudeville. The moving bodies of dancers appear elegant and dignified and serve as projection surfaces for the fashion and movements of their time. Kirchner uses these bodies to show the hopes and failures of a society in transition.

The work had previously been exhibited twice: in 1912, one year after its creation, as part of the first and last group exhibition of Die Brücke artists’ group in Berlin, and in 1923 in a solo exhibition dedicated to Kirchner at the Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer. It then came into the possession of a family in Baden-Württemberg via the Max Glaeser Collection.

The work remained there until its rediscovery in 2024, when its striking color scheme was revealed. With the purchase in June 2024, the Im Obersteg Foundation came into possession of a painting from the “best Brücke period,” whose motif has captured the ravages of its time. In its mania, Tanz im Varieté precedes Kirchner’s famous Berlin street scenes, which were created from 1913 onwards.

Documentation on the conservation and restoration of the painting «Tanz im Varieté»

Information about the purchase can be found under News and in the video "Von Ketterer Kunst ins Museum"

Provenance

- In the artist's studio in Davos until at least 1923

- Acquired by the Max Glaeser Collection (1871-1931), Kaiserslautern-Eselsfürth, between 1928 and 1931

- Passed into the collection of Anna Glaeser, born Opp. (1864-1944), Kaiserslautern-Eselsfürth, by inheritance in 1931

- Acquired in 1944 by a private collection in Baden-Württemberg from the estate of the aforementioned. Brokered by Dr. Lilli Fischel and Galerie Günther Franke, Munich

- Purchased from Ketterer Kunst by the Im Obersteg Foundation on June 2024

Literature

Basel 2024
Paarlauf, Ausst.-Kat. Kunstmuseum Basel, 17. Aug. 2024 – 27. Juli 2025, hrsg. von Géraldine Meyer, S. 13, 30–34, Abb. S. 26.

Brade 1993
Brade, Johanna: Die Zirkus- und Varietébilder der Brücke (1905–1913): Zwischen Bildexperiment und Gesellschaftskritik. Zu Themenwahl und Motivgestaltung (Diss.), Berlin 1993, Kat.-Nr. 75.

Davos 2015
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Der Künstler als Fotograf, Ausst.-Kat. Kirchner Museum Davos, 22. Nov. 2015 – 1. Mai 2016, hrsg. von Thorsten Sadowsky, S. 44, 66, 76, 82 u. 150.

Delfs 2010
Delfs, Hans (Hrsg.): Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Der gesamte Briefwechsel («Die absolute Wahrheit, so wie ich sie fühle»), Zürich 2010, Nr. 1193 u. 1440 (hier falsch zugeordnet).

Dube-Heynig 1984
Dube-Heynig, Annemarie: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Postkarten und Briefe an Erich Heckel im Altonaer Museum in Hamburg, Köln 1984, S. 252 (m. d. Titel «Steptanz»).

Gordon 1968
Gordon, Donald E.: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Mit einem kritischen Katalog sämtlicher Gemälde, München/Cambridge (Mass.) 1968, WVZ-Nr. 196, S. 302 (m. d. Titel «Steptanz»).

Grisebach 1997
Grisebach, Lothar (Hrsg.): Ernst Ludwig Kirchners Davoser Tagebuch, Ostfildern 1997, S. 337 u. 339 (m. d. Titel «Stepptanz»).

Sadowsky 2018a
Sadowsky, Thorsten: «‹Und der Bauchtanz ging den ganzen Vormittag›. Ernst Ludwig Kirchners Davoser Tänze», in: Kirchners Kosmos: Der Tanz, Ausst.-Kat. KirchnerHAUS Aschaffenburg, hrsg. von Brigitte Schad, München 2018, S. 41 u. 42, Nr. 4 (m. d. Titel «Stepptanz»).

Sadowsky 2018b
Sadowsky, Thorsten (Hrsg.): Louis de Marsalle. Visite à Davos, Heidelberg 2018, S. 11, Nr. 2 (m. d. Titel «Stepptanz»).

Scheffler 1920
Scheffler, Karl: «Ernst Ludwig Kirchner», in: Kunst und Künstler. Illustrierte Monatsschrift für bildende Kunst und Kunstgewerbe, Nr. XVIII/5, Heft 5, 1920, S. 219.

Scotti 2005
Scotti, Roland (Hrsg.): Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Das fotografische Werk, Wabern/Bern 2005, S. 117.

Exhibitions

Berlin 1912
Brücke im Kunstsalon Fritz Gurlitt, Berlin, 2. Apr. – 24. Apr. 1912

Berlin 1923
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Gemälde im Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer, Berlin, ab 15. Nov. 1923 (m. d. Titel Steptanz)

Basel 2024
Paarlauf, Kunstmuseum Basel, 17. Aug. 2024 – 27. Juli 2025

Basel 2026
Freundschaft, Sammeln Kunstsinn. Karl und Marianne Im Obersteg-Buess, Kunstmuseum Basel, 1. Aug. 2026 – 7. Feb. 2027

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