Born May 6, 1880, in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria; died June 15, 1938, in Frauenkirch, near Davos, Switzerland. German painter and graphic artist.

Kirchner studied architecture in the Dresden Technical School from 1901 to 1905. A self-taught painter, he was one of the first representatives and theorists of expressionism. In 1905, Kirchner, E. Heckel, and K. Schmidt-Rottluff founded the group Die Brücke (The Bridge). From 1915, Kirchner lived in Switzerland. After the Nazis came to power, he was expelled from the Prussian Academy of Arts (where he had been a member since 1931), and his works were removed from German museums. Kirchner committed suicide.