Ever since I saw Kirchner's work at die Boettcherstrasse in Bremen, I have admired his Berlin street scenes:
This one, however, I didn't understand until now. It is Selbstbildnis als Soldat (Self-portrait as a soldier), 1915.
Kirchner was assigned to field artillery during the Great War, until his depression and lung disease led to his return to Berlin. Back in his studio, he painted this self-portrait, in which he symbolically mutilated his painting-hand and depicted himself in uniform. He was eventually driven to suicide by the Nazi persecutions.
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