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Choose Potsdamer Platz as a hand painted oil painting and skip the compromise of printed wall decor. Based on Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's original. Our artists rebuild the fine art composition stroke by stroke, producing expressionist canvas wall art with lasting color depth.
1914
Oil on canvas
200 x 150 cm
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany.
Potsdamer Platz is an unusual street scene painting because it actually shows a place that's identifiable. We have pictures of this time, and this is precisely what it looked like.
It was a hectic plaza, really, in Berlin—one of the most important shopping areas during the day. But at night, it was a place where prostitutes came out to find their clients. They're standing on a traffic island, but it becomes almost the kind of pedestal that one might see in a department store window that revolved, so that the outfits of the women could be seen in the round. So there is this posing, kind of haughty quality, particularly to the woman in blue.
These women tell lots of different tales. The woman in the blue seems quite young. The woman in the black seems quite old and is wearing a very unusual hat, which was called a widow's veil. The prostitutes took up wearing this hat, as a form of disguise, so that they'd fit in. But also, to gain sympathy, in some cases. There's also a morality tale here, of younger woman starting down the road of prostitution and they staying in it and then becoming kind of old and worn and haggard, like the woman in the black.
There seems to be danger everywhere. One man is stepping right into the street. The street is this greenish color, which has a nightmare effect.
Kirchner goes another step further, by cutting the pedestal in the front, in such a way that you feel as a viewer that you're right about to step on that traffic island yourself. So the viewer is really implicated in this scene.
As office wall decor, the piece pairs naturally with other expressionist wall art and with warm neutrals, timber, and soft natural light.
We use a 100% hand-painted process: stretched artist-grade canvas, layered oil pigment, and a final protective varnish. There are no inkjet prints or mechanical reproductions in this collection — just a painted fine art artwork made to order.
Build a home office gallery wall around this fine art oil painting, or let it stand alone as a single statement. The hand painted canvas finish keeps the fine art composition looking intentional in both classic and contemporary rooms.
| Size | Price |
|---|---|
| 20 X 24 in | $77.98 |
| 24 X 36 in | $120.48 |
| 30 X 40 in | $166.48 |
| 36 X 48 in | $221.48 |
| 48 X 72 in | $430.48 |
The sizes shown are the reproduction canvas sizes we paint to order. The dimensions given in a work's description refer to the original artwork and will differ from the sizes offered here. Not sure? Read the size guide or e-mail us.
Free on orders over $60; a flat $5 below that. Dispatched in 1–2 business days; 30 days to send it back. Full policy.
Every canvas is painted by hand in oils on artist-grade stretched canvas, with an extra blank border left for framing. How to care for your painting.
Measurements are on the size guide, or e-mail [email protected] and we reply within one business day.
