Bathing Scene Beneath Overhanging Tree Branches

The style of this work identifies it as having been created during the later, mature period of ‘Die Brücke’ movement. This is evident in the economy with which the different parts of the bathers’ bodies are outlined, and the way in which the lush foliage hanging over the scene – reminiscent of an exotic canopy of leaves, and perhaps symbolizing a more sensual mode of existence – coalesces into a single large form. The movement of the figures, however, allows Kirchner to strike an intermittently nervous tone, echoed in the splintered forms that characterize various portions of the painting. The work seems to suggest that humanity’s desired unity with nature is nothing but an unrealizable utopia, with the dawning sense of alienation most clearly articulated in the form seen squatting in the foreground. This is Kirchner himself who – as the only person figure wearing clothes – plays no part in the antics on the beach.