Street in Wilmersdorf 1913

Ludwig Meidner made this etching, Street in Wilmersdorf, in 1913, and it feels like he's wrestling with the city itself! Meidner's marks are so restless, almost frantic. Check out how he uses these sharp, angular lines to create buildings that seem to lean and threaten to topple over. It's all in the process, right? How he’s digging into that plate, making those lines that give the scene such a raw, edgy energy. And the figures! They're just sketched in, these fleeting impressions of people rushing through the chaos. There's one figure, slightly larger, walking towards us, almost like a dark shadow. The strokes are heavier there, creating a real sense of unease. It’s not a pleasant stroll in the park, that’s for sure. You can see some of this same urgent energy in the work of the Futurists. But where they celebrated the speed of modern life, Meidner seems to be showing us its darker side. It's like he's saying, "Hey, this modern world? It's a mess, but it's our mess."