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The Reaper

1919–20
Not on view
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
In 1917 Kirchner moved to Davos, Switzerland, for a life of peace and quiet far removed from his wartime experiences in Berlin. Between 1919 and 1920, he lived in a farming settlement at the base of the Stafelalp, where he made paintings and woodcuts of Swiss peasant life. Against the intense green of the alpine landscape, reapers are busy harvesting the vivid yellow rapeseed flowers used to make cooking oil. In the central figure, Kirchner reimagines in Expressionist terms the timeless strength of the farmhand, a motif that harkens back to the art of Vincent van Gogh and Jean-François Millet. The large black cat staring out at the viewer is likely Boby, Kirchner’s cherished companion during his self-imposed isolation in the Swiss Alps.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Reaper
  • Artist: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, Aschaffenburg 1880–1938 Frauenkirch)
  • Date: 1919–20
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 39 3/8 × 29 5/8 in. (100 × 75.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Lent by Private collection, New York
  • Object Number: L.2017.29.2
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art