Alpine Pasture 1918

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this woodcut print of an Alpine Pasture, likely in the 1910s or 20s. It’s a high contrast image, black ink on white paper, and the woodcut gives it a rough, raw quality, like it was carved out of the mountain itself. The starkness is what really grabs me. You can almost feel the artist digging into the woodblock, making these sharp, angular lines. Look how he renders the mountains and the sky with these slashing marks – it’s like he's trying to capture the wild, untamed energy of the landscape. The small village nestled in the mountainside seems almost vulnerable amidst the immensity of nature. It reminds me a bit of some of the German Expressionist painters, like Emil Nolde, who were also using bold colors and simplified forms to express intense emotions. Kirchner's work is part of an ongoing conversation about how we see and feel the world around us. There’s no right or wrong way to interpret it, it’s about letting the image speak to you.