Paar beim Tanz 1911

This is a pencil drawing on paper by German Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, showing a dancing couple. It's all about the line here, scratchy and searching, trying to catch the energy of the dance. I bet Kirchner was out somewhere, maybe in a smoky club, when he made this. He would have been sketching really fast, trying to get it all down before the moment passed. You can almost feel the music in those quick, scribbled lines. The way he suggests the woman’s dress with just a few loops and circles is pretty great. It’s like he’s not just drawing what he sees, but also what he feels. Kirchner was part of a group of artists called Die Brücke, and they were all about capturing raw emotion and modern life. You can see that in this drawing—it's loose, edgy, and full of life. Artists are always riffing off each other, aren't they? It's a big conversation across time.