Blonder Maler Stirner 1919

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this woodcut, Blonder Maler Stirner. Kirchner was one of the founders of the German Expressionist group Die Brücke. He uses the woodcut medium here in a style similar to the woodcarvings of Emil Nolde or even Edvard Munch, but with a manic edge. The whole image feels tense. Look closely at the way the lines are cut. The image is full of sharp angles and jagged edges, as if the artist attacked the wood with a knife, full of angst. Now, see the man’s eyes? They stare out at us, wide and intense. And then there’s that hat, or whatever it is, balanced precariously on his head. It’s all a bit much, isn’t it? Like he's saying something with his art, something important and urgent. You can see shades of Munch’s ‘The Scream’ in the anxious intensity of the sitter, and the raw execution of the woodcut. What do you see?