Auf- und Absteigende in der Landschaft c. 1920

Editor: Here we have Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's "Auf- und Absteigende in der Landschaft," or "Ascending and Descending in the Landscape," a sketch on cardboard from around 1920. It feels very fleeting, almost like a memory. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see Kirchner wrestling with the psychological landscape of post-World War I Germany. Notice the figures, rendered almost as ghosts, ascending and descending. Consider the social mobility promised—and often denied—in the wake of such devastation. Is this hope or aimless wandering? What does their ascent and descent tell us? Editor: It's interesting that you focus on the social aspect. I was more drawn to the physical landscape. The figures seem dwarfed by it. Curator: Precisely. This imbalance speaks to the individual's struggle against larger, often oppressive, societal forces. Think about the trauma experienced by soldiers returning home, the political instability, and the economic hardship. How might these figures reflect those experiences? Editor: That makes me think about them less as wanderers and more as… survivors. The sketch almost feels like a plea for them to be noticed. Curator: An astute observation. The starkness of the landscape, the tentative lines... these are not triumphant figures. They are searching for solid ground, both literally and figuratively. Do you see this echoed in the visual language he employs here? Editor: The incompleteness, the way the figures are sketched so quickly – like they might disappear – emphasizes that precariousness. Thanks for providing that historical framework; I hadn’t fully appreciated the weight of that period in this seemingly simple drawing. Curator: And I appreciate your attention to the materiality, how the ephemerality of the chalk and cardboard enhances this interpretation. Art is, after all, about these dialogues – across time, perspectives, and lived experiences.