Spritzende Badende 1916

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this dynamic print, Spritzende Badende, with lithographic ink, those blues and purples suggesting an almost violent energy. It’s like he's trying to capture something fleeting, a moment of wild abandon in the water. I can imagine Kirchner in his studio, wrestling with the stone, layering those inks, trying to nail down this sense of movement. The way the figures are rendered, so angular and raw, it feels like he's not just depicting bodies, but some kind of primal energy. Look at how the strokes carve out those bodies, capturing that feeling when water hits your skin, that shock of cold and exhilaration. The Dadaists also had a similar vision of the body, always in flux, never fixed. Kirchner’s definitely got a foot in that camp. It's like all these artists are speaking to each other, riffing on similar ideas. They remind us that painting isn't about answers, but about keeping the conversation going, one brushstroke at a time.