Self-Portrait as a Soldier

Self-Portrait as a Soldier, or Selbstbildnis als Soldat, is an Expressionist oil-on-canvas painting by the German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Kirchner created this self-depiction in 1915, following his medical discharge from military service during the First World War."Biography- Ernst Ludwig Kirchner" Kirchner Museum Davos. Accessed February 18, 2020. http://www.kirchnermuseum.ch/en/el-kirchner/ The artwork measures 69 centimetres in height by 61 centimetres in width."German Expressionist Art" Allen Memorial Art Museum, Accessed September 30, 2019. http://www2.oberlin.edu/amam/Kirchner_SelfPortrait.htm The painting was first exhibited in the 'Städtische Galerie' in Germany between 1916 and 1919 and currently resides at the Allen Memorial Art Museum in Ohio USA."German Expressionist Art" Allen Memorial Art Museum, Accessed September 30, 2019. http://www2.oberlin.edu/amam/Kirchner_SelfPortrait.htm Critical interpretations of the painting attribute its stark Expressionist style and myriad of symbolic elements to the socio-political turbulence of Germany during the First World War. Self Portrait as a Soldier may be viewed as testimony to Kirchner's volatile mental and physical health and as a critique of the chaotic instability of Germany during the early 20th century.Eleanor. F. Moseman. "E.L Kirchner, Czech Cubism and the Representation of Spirit in Portraiture, 1915–1918" The Space Between 4, no.1 (2008):12–34   

Subject matter

Self Portrait as a Soldier depicts Kirchner as a gaunt and utilitarian soldier wearing the 75th Mansfeld Field Artillery Regiment uniform.Jeffery. K Aronoson, and Manoj Ramachandram. "The Diagnosis of art: Ernest Ludwig Kirchner's 'nervous breakdown'" Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 103, no.3 (2010) 112–113. He stands in an artist's studio, positioned prominently within the artwork's foreground. A nude female figure, situated in front of a black canvas, is depicted behind him. The soldier holds up the bloodied stump of his right hand, which is juxtaposed against depiction of his left hand as deformed and claw-like."Kirchner's Self-Portrait as Soldier (1915)" Ever Painter Paints Himself (EPPH). Accessed February 18, 2020 https://www.everypainterpaintshimself.com/article/kirchners_self_portrait_as_soldier_1915 The soldier's military uniform is painted using rich blue and red colours. Skin tones of both the soldier and female figure are a sickly yellow. The artwork has a cropped composition, created by framing the figures with bright orange and green hues used in the background.Eleanor. F. Moseman. "E.L Kirchner, Czech Cubism and the Representation of Spirit in Portraiture, 1915–1918" The Space Between 4, no.1 (2008):12–34 Both Kirchner and the nude female figure are not drawn to scale. The Allen Memorial Art Museum cites that the "soldier has an elongated face and other blurred features, while the woman's shoulders are disproportionate to that of a true human form.""German Expressionist Art", AMAM, 2–3

Historical and socio-political context

Kirchner's 'Self-Portrait as a Soldier' was painted in 1915, a year after the commencement of the First World War (WW1). The impetus for Germany's involvement in WW1 was its alliance with Austria-Hungary who declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.David. E Kaiser. "Germany the Origins of the First World War." The Journal of Modern History 55, no.3 (1983):442–474 The German invasion of Belgium in 1914 saw Britain declare war on Germany. The alliance system of WW1 pitted the Centrals Powers, encompassing Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria against the Allied Powers which compromised Russia, France, Great Britain and the United States.David. E Kaiser. "Germany the Origins of the First World War." The Journal of Modern History 55, no.3 (1983):442–474 Throughout the war non-material and material living standards and civil liberties in Germany were extremely poor. Mary Cox's 'The First World War and the Blockade of Germany, 1914–1919' cites "that economic warfare in Germany was premeditated and designed to swiftly destroy German's entire economic and financial system." As well as "the destruction of Germany's communication and financial systems".Nicholas Lambert accessed via Mary. E Cox.  "The First World War and the Blockade of Germany, 1914–1919", in Hunger in War and Peace. Edited by Mary. E Cox, 1–51. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. P. 18 Cox also states that "the blockade was to blame for the listlessness of German youth and their increased involvement in criminal activities".Mary. E Cox.  "The First World War and the Blockade of Germany, 1914–1919", in Hunger in War and Peace. Edited by Mary. E Cox, 1–51. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. P. 24 Matthias Blum contends that the "economic and physical deprivation" of WW1 left "deep scars of various kinds" upon Germany.Matthias Blum. "Government decisions before and during the First World War and the living standards in Germany during a drastic natural experiment" Explorations in Economic History 48, no.4 (2011):556–558 Ultimately, Britain's naval blockade against Germany established to restrict the supply of food, oil and weaponry from 1914 to 1915 caused "deliberate starvation of citizens", disease and death amounting to comprehensive reduction of socio-cultural and political stability.Cox, "The Blockage of Germany", P. 18

Trench warfare characterised WW1 and resulted in extended periods of gunfire across trenches. Artillery fire caused what is now recognised as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The mental and physical health of soldiers was further jeopardised by the squalor of trenches where corpses, rats, poisonous water, freezing cold temperatures, disease and malnutrition were common.Matthias Blum. "Government decisions before and during the First World War and the living standards in Germany during a drastic natural experiment" Explorations in Economic History 48, no.4 (2011):556–567 Kirchner was discharged from active military service due to physical and mental incapacity. Subsequently, he suffered from "war neurosis and depression" which fuelled drug and alcohol addictions leading to severely diminished health in the years following 1915.Thomas. W Gaehtgens and Anja Foerschner. "Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Drawings of the Apocalypse" Getty Research Journal 6 (2014): 84–85

Visual analysis

Self Portrait as a Soldier depicts Kirchner smoking a cigarette which hangs loosely from his lips. Common analysis of this suggests that Kirchner has chosen to depict himself within a state of thought. This draws on firm precedence for the act of smoking as "a symbol for metamorphic imagination, while tobacco itself intoxicates the mind"."Kirchner's Self-Portrait as Soldier (1915)" Ever Painter Paints Himself (EPPH). Accessed February 18, 2020 https://www.everypainterpaintshimself.com/article/kirchners_self_portrait_as_soldier_1915 Within 'Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Self Portrait as a Soldier', Peter Springer postulates that the soldier's dark blue eyes emanate lifelessness and emphasise constant preoccupation with the horrors of war through their reflection of the blue military uniform.Peter Springer, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Self Portrait as a Soldier. (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002.)  119–129 Kirchner uses an intense bright blue to create the uniform's fabric. This tonal choice sharply contrasts with the lighter, sickly yellow hues of the soldier's skin. Critical interpretation of the work stresses how these colour choices drain the soldier's face of vitality which emphasise his weakness and despondency."Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Self-Portrait as a Soldier" Smart History. Accessed February 18, 2020 https://smarthistory.org/kirchner-self-portrait-as-a-soldier/ In 'The diagnosis of art: Ernest Ludwig Kirchner's nervous breakdown' by Jeffery. K Aronoson, and Manoj Ramachandram, the use of jaundice green and gory red colours are said to highlight that the injury is recent and unhealed. Much like the psychological scars of Kirchner's military service.Jeffery. K Aronoson, and Manoj Ramachandram. "The Diagnosis of art: Ernest Ludwig Kirchner's 'nervous breakdown'" Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 103, no.3 (2010) 112–113. Kirchner has juxtaposed his stump against the long, distorted fingers of his left hand which appears claw like. Art historians have speculated that distortion of these fingers is intended to create a paintbrush for a hand."Kirchner's Self-Portrait as Soldier (1915)", EPPH For many art historians, Kirchner's fictitious self-depiction as an amputee is notable. The imagery of self-amputation may underscore the loss and fear felt by Kirchner regarding his artistic abilities and manhood following military service.Jeffery. K Aronoson, and Manoj Ramachandram. "The Diagnosis of art: Ernest Ludwig Kirchner's 'nervous breakdown'" Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 103, no.3 (2010) 112–113. Behind his self-depiction Kirchner has included a naked female figure. The use of harsh black outlines to define the woman's emaciated figure emulate strong Primitivist influence.L. D Ettlinger. "German Expressionism and Primitive Art." The Burlington Magazine 110, no. 781 (1968): 191–201. Peter Springer, among others, suggests that the relationship between Kirchner's self-depiction and the female figure hints at tension and animosity.Springer, Peter. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Self Portrait as a Soldier. (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002.) 112–140 It is proposed that the differences in scale between the two subjects emphasises the corruption of power and imbalance of gendered autonomy and responsibility."German Expressionist Art", AMAM, 1- 7 The careful selection and amalgamation of visual and symbolic features in Self Portrait as a Soldier can be read as Kirchner's ultimate condemnation of military conscription.Claudia Siebrecht, "The image of the soldier: Portrayals and concepts of martial masculinity from the Wars of liberation to the First World War in Germany" Journal of War and Cultural Studies 5, no. 3 (2012) 261–275 The Allen Memorial Art Museum propound that Kirchner's exaggerated depiction of the severe psychological and physical consequences of military service underlie an "unshakeable, almost pathological fear of the effects of war on himself as an artists and human being"."German Expressionist Art", AMAM, 1 Similarly, Claudia Siebrecht divulges that "through his art, Kirchner revealed himself to the world as a man crippled by the experience of war, and as someone whose pre-war existence and masculine self-had been eradicated."Claudia Siebrecht, "The image of the soldier: Portrayals and concepts of martial masculinity from the Wars of liberation to the First World War in Germany" Journal of War and Cultural Studies 5, no. 3 (2012) 269

Style and techniques Self-Portrait as a Soldier is marked by Kirchner's distinctive Expressionist style and affinity for Primitivist influences.

Expressionism