Kopf Jakob Bosshart 1921

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this woodcut of Kopf Jakob Bosshart with stark contrasts of black ink on a yellowy ground. It's like he's wrestling the image out of the wood, digging deep to reveal the face. I can imagine Kirchner, maybe a little angsty, carving away at the block, the wood resisting, then giving way in splinters. Each line a decision, a commitment. Look at those etched lines of the hair and beard and how they create texture and volume. I wonder, was he thinking about Dürer or the old masters of engraving? Maybe, maybe not. But that intensity, that directness? It's like he’s trying to capture something essential about this person, Bosshart. It's not just a likeness, it’s a feeling, a mood, etched in black and white. What do you see?