Composer Klemperer 1916

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this woodcut, Composer Klemperer, by cutting into a block and inking and printing it. It's all angular shapes, kind of intense. The hands, in particular, are so expressive, like he's really feeling the music, maybe even wrestling with it. I wonder what Kirchner was thinking as he carved into that block? The guy's face looks pretty tormented! It reminds me a bit of some of the German Expressionist painters, like Emil Nolde. They were all trying to capture something raw and emotional, pushing against the traditional ideas of beauty and representation. It's all about feeling, not just seeing. I love how artists riff off each other across time, like a big conversation that never ends. They challenge us to see the world in new ways, to embrace the messy and the uncertain.