Past master passed over

'Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) is widely acknowledged as the greatest artist of German Expressionism' is how the press release for the Royal Academy's new show begins: from which you will see that the art world isn't always an entirely honest place.

In fact, Max Beckmann, Egon Schiele, Emil Nolde and Georg Grosz all have better claims to the title of World's Greatest Expressionist, which is what makes the Academy's show so interesting. This is the first major UK exhibition of a relatively overlooked painter, and the quality of Kirchner's work makes you wonder why history should have favoured Grosz et al at his expense.

Pre-1911 pictures such as Otto And Maschka Mueller In The Studio, painted in Dresden, show a colourist brilliance that owes much to Matisse. And Kirchner's Berlin works, painted after 1911, have a kind of mad exuberance that makes Grosz look pedestrian. Trapeze Acrobats In Blue is one part Degas and one part Busby Berkley, with a dash of Italian Futurism thrown in for good measure.

You walk through this exhibition with a real sense of discovery, and occasionally of amazement. Artillerymen In The Shower (1915), with its creepy foreshadowing of a darker moment in German history, is an astonishing painting. Kirchner may not be widely acknowledged as the greatest artist of German Expressionism, but this show really does make you wonder if he shouldn't be. Charles Darwent

Until Sept 21, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly W1, daily 10am to 6pm (Fri to 10pm), £7. Tel: 020 7300 8000. Tube: Piccadilly Circus