Kopf Gustav Schiefler I 1910

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner created this drypoint portrait, likely in the early 20th century. It’s all about the line, isn’t it? Like a quick sketch, but with the permanence of print. I imagine Kirchner, peering intently, the needle scratching across the plate, each line a decision, a small rebellion against the blank surface. There's a nervous energy in those lines, a zig and a zag to the face, the glasses sitting so firmly on the man's nose. It's a portrait, but it's also a performance, Kirchner working at seeing and feeling, all at once. The head reminds me of other portraits by artists like Otto Dix, all those wild characters from the Weimar Republic. Kirchner, Dix, Grosz – they were all in conversation, challenging what a portrait could be, what it could say. This print, it's like a whispered secret in that ongoing dialogue, a moment of connection between artist, subject, and us, the viewers.