Couple Taking a Stroll 1907

Editor: Here we have Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s linocut print, "Couple Taking a Stroll," from 1907. It strikes me as strangely…stilted, even though it’s a scene of leisure. The figures are blocky and the colours are quite intense. What's your take on this, as someone who’s spent quite a bit of time looking at Kirchner? Curator: Stilted is a perfect word. It reminds me of those awkward first dates where everyone's trying a bit too hard to be…charming? Kirchner's Expressionism isn't about photographic realism; it's about capturing the *feeling* of a moment. Consider the context. Early 20th century, industrialization’s impact on urban life is really being felt and artists started responding. Editor: How so? Curator: Kirchner, along with the other artists in Die Brücke, were trying to portray that kind of…raw nerve of modern existence, you know? A detachment with society. Here we have a couple attempting a leisurely moment but Kirchner creates the feeling that they don’t truly connect. Editor: Interesting. I hadn't really considered the colors. Why these unnatural blues and oranges? Curator: Those clashing hues definitely throw things off, don't they? Perhaps it is a reminder of those harsh industrial environments. The vibrant colour and simplified forms that derive from this print medium. It’s a choice to confront the viewer, almost to disturb them from complacency. But do you find yourself drawn in, even despite the dissonance? Editor: Definitely. I initially felt put off, but now I’m strangely fascinated by this couple and what they might be thinking, where they might be going. I also appreciate that printmakers often had a very small press with only three or four color choices, so there may have been a practical limit in terms of hues and colour gradation. Curator: Precisely! And now, having taken that stroll with Kirchner and his couple, maybe we understand a sliver more about the tension and anxiety simmering beneath the surface of that so-called “leisurely” era.