Self-portrait 1938

This is a self-portrait, made with pencil by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. See how the lines aren't overly laboured? They are more about feeling than rigid observation. Like a drawing that happened quickly but feels as if it’s been looked at for a long time. The dark, almost violent marks to the left have a real physical presence, they almost leap from the page! Then, if you look closely, you can see where Kirchner has gone back over a line again and again, particularly around the eyes and nose. It’s like he’s searching for the truth, not just of how he looks, but of how he feels. I am reminded of late drawings by Giacometti; it feels like Kirchner is similarly trying to find a way to see, to understand, and to render a sense of lived experience through very simple means. Neither artist is trying to produce a perfect likeness, instead, they embrace the ambiguity and layered possibilities of the drawn line.