Straßenszene (nach dem Gemälde „Straßenszene“ von 1914) 1922

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this woodcut, "Straßenszene (after the painting "Straßenszene" from 1914)," which you can see at the Städel Museum, and the way he chopped into the wood block makes me think about the act of seeing itself – how we carve out and define our perceptions. The color is intense, but it’s the physicality that grabs me. Look closely at the slashing marks and how the colors are laid on unevenly. It’s like he’s wrestling with the block, trying to force it to cough up the image he wants. There is an area of orange in the bottom left, almost like the light of the street is trying to push its way up through the darkness. It reminds me of Munch, another artist who wasn’t afraid to show the raw, messy side of human experience. Kirchner isn’t giving us a polished, perfect image. He’s showing us something raw, visceral, and unresolved. Art is a conversation across time, full of questions and very few answers.