Why it matters
The Berlin dancer Erna Schilling, Kirchner's model and later partner, sits in elegant clothes with a sceptical, melancholy expression. He painted her while she was ill, using nervous, angular brushstrokes that reflect the tense city.
Did you know?
- It was painted in 1913.
- They met in a Berlin nightclub in 1911.
- They stayed together until Kirchner's death in 1938.
Based on the Wikipedia article Portrait of Erna Schilling (CC BY-SA 4.0).
