Nude Girl at her Toilette 1912

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this drawing of a Nude Girl at her Toilette with black chalk on paper. There's something immediate about this drawing, a sense of the artist capturing a fleeting moment. You know, that quick gesture when you're getting ready, half looking in the mirror. I wonder if he struggled with how to make the lines look so casual, so off-the-cuff, while still feeling structurally sound. It’s so simple, but so full of feeling. Kirchner’s mark-making feels decisive and confident here, even though the lines are scratchy and a little raw. And it's interesting to think about how artists like Kirchner were looking at the nude throughout art history, but trying to see it anew, maybe a little awkward, a little bit vulnerable.