On 25 November 1916 Eberhard Grisebach, professor for philosopy in Jena and a very caring friend of Kirchner, wrote to Helen Spengler, wife of Lucius Spengler, physician and director of a sanatorium on the Schatzalp in Davos: ”It is very generous of you to accept Kirchner as patient – I do not think that it is in any way possible to integrate this man, who has fled from all of society, anywhere else." (Lothar Grisebach, Maler des Expressionismus im Briefwechsel mit Eberhard Grisebach, Hamburg 1962, p. 54)
Kirchner consents and eventually arrives snow-covered in Davos after extensive preparations on 20 January 1917. With a short interruption he and his partner Erna Schilling eventually settled here. He set up a studio and piece by piece took all his paintings and belongings from Berlin to his new home in Davos. The new surroundings exerted vehement influence on both the artist's life and work. He seemingly regained the much-needed peace and quietness to execute these excellent depictions of the breath-taking mountain landscapes: ”Stafelalp bei Mondschein“ (Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund), ”Rückkehr der Tiere, Stafelalp“ 1919 (Kunstmuseum Basel) to name but a few titles of the new motifs. The triptych ‘Alpleben’ (Kirchner Museum, Davos) is an homage to the life and work of the local peasants. It is an expression of gratitude for helping him to recover and to find peace of mind. Kirchner consents and eventually arrives snow-covered in Davos after extensive preparations on 20 January 1917. With a short interruption he and his partner Erna Schilling eventually settled here. He set up a studio and piece by piece took all his paintings and belongings from Berlin to his new home in Davos. The new surroundings exerted vehement influence on both the artist's life and work. He seemingly regained the much-needed peace and quietness to execute these excellent depictions of the breath-taking mountain landscapes: ”Stafelalp bei Mondschein“ (Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund), ”Rückkehr der Tiere, Stafelalp“ 1919 (Kunstmuseum Basel) to name but a few titles of the new motifs. The triptych ‘Alpleben’ (Kirchner Museum, Davos) is an homage to the life and work of the local peasants. It is an expression of gratitude for helping him to recover and to find peace of mind.
The painting ”Heimkehrende Ziegenherde“ is also part of the group of works that show mountain farmers at work, which had also become part of Kirchner’s daily routines. Pictures of the stunning views that the new surroundings offered, of his participation in the life of the countryfolk, and the animal portraits are subject to the same coherent system that accounts for the previously made cityscapes, studio- and street scenes from Dresden and Berlin. The everyday description of the mountainside shows a seamless transition. At times Kirchner seems to recall the accustomed Berlin palette and renders early Davos pictures similarly agitated and expressively, as it is the case with this scene of goats returning from the Alps to their wintering grounds. By omitting perspective Kirchner merges several details into one large scene: The goats are scattered on narrow paths across the mountain slopes. Herder and animals are part of nature, exposed to the mountain massif and the deep valleys, while a distant mountain pasture promises protection. Kirchner adores the landscape and pays homage to the scarce life of the farmers who drive their cattle down from the alp into the village over the steep and narrow path: An enchanting orchestration filled with marvellous color contrasts. It is not possible to clearly identify the exact date when the collector Gustav Ferdinand Jung from Hagen acquired Kirchner’s ”Ziegenherde“. In 1922 the gallery owner Ludwig Schames, who represented Kirchner in Frankfurt am Main, shows the exhibition ”Schweizer Arbeiten von E. L. Kirchner“; which then travelled to the Kunstverein Erfurt. Accordingly, it is quite likely that this painting was part of the exhibition and that Jung came across it either in Frankfurt or in Erfurt. Hagen was in close contact with the Erfurt art- and culture scene, especially with the collector Alfred Hess. Naturally, he was also good friends with Carl Ernst Osthaus, founder of Museum Folkwang in Hagen and Ernst Gosebruch, director of Museum Folkwang until 1933, after the museum had relocated from Hagen to Essen in 1921/22.
On 6 December 1935 Gosebruch wrote to his friend Carl Hagemann, renowned collector from Frankfurt am Main: ” – in case you should, as your siblings wish – come to Essen for Christmas, and have a little spare time I recommend a short trip to Hagen to visit Mr Gustav Jung, Potthof 9, phone 211 12, in order to have a look at his pictures.He mainly owns Kirchner’s works, among them a great variety of show dancers, which you are probably familiar with. An even finer picture is the one with female nudes in portrait format and a forest picture, also in portrait format, both count among Kirchner’s best creations. I was totally smitten. Mr and Mrs Jung - please mention that you visit them following my recommendation - are a lovely couple. [..].“ (Quote after: Kirchner, Schmidt-Rottluff, Nolde, Nay . Briefe an den Sammler und Mäzen Carl Hagemann, Hans Delfs et al (editor), Osterfildern 2004, letter 647, p. 507). [MvL]