Reclining Female Nude c. 1923

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this watercolour and pencil drawing, Reclining Female Nude, at some point in his career. It's a super loose rendering of a nude, and what strikes me first is the speed of it, like a quick sketch in a cafe but with a juicy watercolour palette of pinks, greens and blues. The marks are really raw and exposed, the pencil lines aren't trying to hide under the watercolour washes, in fact they stand out proud. There’s a lovely dark blue that outlines the shape of the woman, and then pools in the lower left of the composition, adding weight and depth. It reminds me of a Franz Kline painting, but with a light and airy feel. Look at the shapes, how they push and pull, creating a kind of spatial tension. The ambiguity of the shapes suggests an interest in the fleeting nature of experience. Kirchner's drawing reminds me that art isn't about perfect representation, it's about capturing a feeling, an impression, a moment in time.