Mountain Atelier 1937

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner likely made this painting with oil on canvas, showing the interior of his studio space. The thick application of the oil paint gives the painting a textured surface, emphasizing the artist's process, and his physical involvement with the making of the work. Notice the materiality of the paints. How Kirchner used these materials to depict the studio space, the paintings, the furniture, and even the cat in the foreground. His application of the paint is loose and gestural, with visible brushstrokes that add a sense of immediacy and spontaneity to the composition, reflecting the social and cultural context of the artist's studio, a place of creative labor. Kirchner’s studio was not only his place of work, but also a space for socializing with other artists and models. By focusing on the physical labor of the artist, and the ways in which artistic spaces can be shaped by social interactions, we come to new perspectives and a fuller understanding of its cultural significance.