The Nurse 1917

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made 'The Nurse' with oil on canvas, and the first thing that hits you is how the image seems to push forward, raw and immediate. I can imagine Kirchner, attacking the canvas, wrestling with the figure until it becomes something wild and new. The clashing reds and yellows, the jabbing strokes, the way the green face seems to stare right through you—it's all so intense. Is this an act of care, or something more sinister? The ambiguity is so strong here. The blue marks to the left feel to me almost like a counterweight to the figure, a dark premonition hovering behind. It makes me think about his other works, how he kept pushing against the grain, trying to find a way to express what was churning inside. We need art that isn't afraid to feel uncertain, that leaves room for doubt and interpretation. That's where the real juice is, and that’s what connects us to each other, and to the artist, across time.