Women Bathing Between White Stones 1912

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this woodcut, Women Bathing Between White Stones, sometime in his career, and it's a real masterclass in expressive mark-making. You can see how the grain of the wood itself becomes part of the image, giving the whole scene a kind of restless energy. The colors are so striking, right? That fleshy pink against the cool blues and stark whites. It's like a push and pull, a dance of contrasts that keeps your eye moving. Take a look at the figure in the foreground, the way the lines define the curve of the calf. It’s so simple, almost crude, but it captures the essence of the body. Kirchner was part of that group of German Expressionists, and you can totally see their influence here. They were all about raw emotion and pushing the boundaries of what art could be. This piece is like a conversation with the Fauves, maybe Matisse, about color and form, but with a distinctly German twist. It shows art is all about taking ideas, turning them around, and making something new.