Bathers at Moritzburg 1909 - 1926

Editor: So, here we have Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Bathers at Moritzburg” at the Tate Modern. It's undated, but look at this wild energy! The bodies almost blend into the landscape. What strikes you most about this scene? Curator: It's that dance between freedom and unease, isn’t it? Kirchner's figures, rendered in bold strokes, are meant to be at play within nature. Yet, there’s a tension in their elongated forms, a certain rawness. Do you sense that discomfort too? Editor: I do, actually. I initially saw freedom, but there's something almost anxious about their postures, now that you mention it. Curator: It's Kirchner wrestling with modernity, perhaps. Finding beauty in it, but also hinting at a loss of innocence. It is like staring into the heart of something both beautiful and slightly unsettling, don't you think? Editor: Absolutely. I’m seeing so much more than I did at first glance.