Nudes in a Meadow 1929

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made "Nudes in a Meadow" at an unknown date, and most likely with oil paint. The figures are laid down with these juicy, broad strokes, all these simplified forms; the bodies feel like they’re emerging right out of the darkness. There is something very primal about how the colour is laid, there's no fussy detail, everything is simplified to its essence and then blocked in, colour-wise. Like the areas of flesh tone and the way they define the figures, very bold, but then also quite flat. I'm thinking about the little indentation of the spine on the figure on the right, it's very simply drawn, but it gives such a sense of three-dimensionality, a sense of weight and volume. And then the very graphic butt, these simple lines, you know? Kirchner's use of simple forms and bold colours reminds me a little of Matisse, though Kirchner's got a more expressionistic, raw feel. He’s not trying to prettify things; he’s after something more intense, more real. It’s all about the push and pull of colour, the way the dark ground makes those nudes pop, and how the process itself is right there on the canvas.