Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte: Begegnung Schlemihls mit dem grauen Männlein auf der Landstrasse (Peter Schlemihl's Wondrous Story: Schlemihl Encounters the Little Gray Man on the Road) 1915

This color woodcut, made by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, presents us with bold blue, red and green swathes. I'm just imagining him working on it – carving into the block, proofing, adjusting, maybe even changing his mind halfway through! I can really feel Kirchner’s presence in each mark, and I just wanna sympathize with the guy, you know? What must it have been like to create these strange characters and put them on the road? Look at that dark figure in a top hat – the gray man maybe? – and the red slashes that make up his face and hands. It feels kind of raw, almost like he’s reaching out. There’s a conversation happening here between line and color. Each element seems to push against the others, creating this push-and-pull dynamic. It makes me think of other expressionist painters, like Munch and Nolde. I just wanna see all these artists lined up, chatting, exchanging ideas. That’s the fun of art, isn’t it? It’s a messy, ongoing conversation, full of emotion and uncertainty.