Staffelalp by Moonlight 1918

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this dramatic print, Staffelalp by Moonlight, using woodcut techniques. The stark contrast between black and white reminds me of how shapes emerge and recede in the dark. The texture is created by these sharp, expressive cuts into the wood. Look at how the lines radiate out from the centre, like an explosion of energy. The marks carve out the composition, becoming the mountains, the buildings, and the sky. Those jagged lines in the upper right corner, they could be moonlight, or maybe wind, or even just the raw energy of the landscape itself. Kirchner's bold approach feels similar to Munch's work, in that sense of raw emotion being etched directly into the surface. It's a landscape, but also a state of mind, where everything is heightened and intensified.