Girl with Cat (Franzi) 1910

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this oil painting, Girl with Cat (Franzi), at some point in his career. Look at the colours! They're not trying to be realistic, are they? It's more like Kirchner is reaching for something raw, something that buzzes with feeling, and the colours are how he gets there. It's like he's saying, "Forget what you think you know, and just feel this!" The surface is alive, you know? The paint isn't trying to hide. You can see the strokes, the way he layered the colours, thick in some places, almost transparent in others. That cat is amazing, right? It’s purple, like a shadow come to life! The whole thing feels like a dare, like Kirchner is pushing himself, and us, to see how far we can go. There's a connection here to other Expressionists, like maybe Emil Nolde, with that same wild energy and embrace of colour as a way to get straight to the gut. It’s not about pretty, it’s about real. And sometimes, real is messy and loud and a little bit scary, but always, always, interesting.