Sleigh Ride in the Snow 1927 - 1929

Editor: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's "Sleigh Ride in the Snow," made sometime between 1927 and 1929, is currently housed at the Städel Museum. Executed in oil paint, the textures feel quite vibrant against the snowscape. What catches my attention is the composition. What do you make of it? Curator: Indeed. Observe how Kirchner employs contrasting warm and cool hues. The reddish-brown of the trees and sleigh contrasts starkly with the blues and whites of the snow, creating a dynamic tension within the landscape itself. Notice also the simplification of form. Editor: Simplified how? Curator: The mountains, the trees, even the figures in the sleigh – they're all reduced to their essential shapes and planes. This allows Kirchner to focus on the pure experience of form and color, divorcing the scene from a literal representation and giving primacy to feeling. The artist flattens space and uses line to emphasize contours rather than volume. What's your take? Editor: I see what you mean about the lines! I'm noticing that, beyond the lines that carve out space, the color itself seems to function as a dividing point, a border between two planes of the image. The contours define it! Curator: Precisely. And by foregoing traditional modelling and perspective, Kirchner achieves an emotional intensity, inviting us to consider how pure abstraction evokes feeling. Editor: I guess I never thought about the formal elements creating so much intensity, and how much meaning they generate in an Expressionist painting. Curator: Considering art’s building blocks and structure opens doors to see new meaning.