Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is probably the best known of the Die Brucke but he may have had the most difficult end. This painting, Female Nude by Patterned Curtain, is also from 1910 (see this week's posts). The group met chez Kirchner, and as I've written in the past, its boho setting allowed for the freeing of artistic libido.

It also alas allowed for many under age young women who hung around with the guys--all former architecture students--and served as both models and lovers. The groups manifesto allowed for this "freedom" but in retrospect of course we raise an eyebrow.

Kirchner's WWI wartime service did not sit well with him and he had a breakdown and he became addicted to drugs, drink and cigarettes. Though he continued to be productive, and much recognized and collected, he was in and out of sanitoria. Still he soldiered on and was quite prolific. As the Nazis came to power, he was part of the Degenerate Art show they organized, and his spirits increasingly waned. He shot himself in 1938.