The German-born Expressionist artist and painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) first came to Davos in 1917 on a rest cure. Physically and mentally devastated by the war, mountain life spelled recovery but also provided a drastic challenge that proved extremely fruitful for his art. At first Kirchner met his new environment with nervous brushstrokes and dynamic animation that had characterized his Berlin street scenes. This inner agitation gradually subsided, giving way to a calm, consilidated depiction of nature. Not only his primary focus on landscapes, but also his interiors and a series of selfportraits and figurative paintings of rural neighbors testify to the artist's new imagery. With its selection of paintings, works on paper, sculptures, photographs, and tapestries from European and American private collections, this monograph shows how Kirchner, after Segantini and Hodler, became the third great painter of the Alps. The book concludes with works from the period between 1925 and 1926, when Kirchner first returned to Germany again, leaving behind his union with nature-oriented reality. (German edition ISBN 978-3-7757-1331-3) Exhibition Schedule: Kunstmuseum Basel September 27, 2003-January 4, 2004