Self-Portrait with Dancing Death 1917 - 1918

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this woodcut, Self-Portrait with Dancing Death, sometime in the early 20th century. What strikes me most about this print is how Kirchner isn't just showing us a picture, he's revealing a process. The stark contrast between black and white creates a really powerful, emotional space. Look at the way he's carved out the lines of his face, so angular and sharp. And then there's the dancing skeleton right behind him, almost like a shadow. It’s so interesting how the lines of the skeleton mimic the lines of his face, like death is just another layer of the self, dancing in tandem. The rawness of the woodcut, those deep gouges and rough edges, it’s like he's wrestling with something fundamental about being alive, about facing your own mortality. It reminds me a little of Edvard Munch, that same sense of existential angst and emotional intensity, transformed into something visually compelling. Art, for Kirchner, becomes a form of raw expression, and a conversation that continues to this day.