Drei Figuren auf Fehmarn 1914

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this drawing, Drei Figuren auf Fehmarn, with ink and watercolor, and it’s like looking at a memory, raw and immediate. The lines are scratched into the paper, urgent and searching, capturing figures in a landscape with such directness. The peachy, fleshy tones mixed with the stark black ink make me think about bodies exposed to the elements. Look at how the forms aren’t fully described but suggested through gesture and tone. The way the ink bleeds into the paper feels like a physical extension of the artist’s own emotional state. It’s all feeling, no fuss. There’s a big blobby area, dark and dense, on the lower right-hand side. This mark anchors the composition, but it also speaks to the weight of being, the heaviness that can overwhelm a scene. Kirchner’s rough and ready approach reminds me of some drawings by late Picasso, where the image is just barely held together by force of will. It’s like Kirchner is saying that art doesn't need to be polished to be profound. It just needs to be real.