Nude Woman Combing Her Hair 1913

Curator: Standing before us, we have Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s 1913 oil painting, “Nude Woman Combing Her Hair,” currently residing at the Brücke Museum in Berlin. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: It strikes me as an almost unsettling snapshot, wouldn't you agree? The pose, the colors... there's a raw honesty here that feels both vulnerable and a little dangerous. Curator: Precisely. Let’s delve a little deeper. You have a figure here composed of pinks and purples set within this somewhat lurid color scheme with broad strokes of orange, blue and green. Can you elaborate more about why that unsettles you? Editor: Well, the jarring color combinations really intensify the feeling, right? Pink skin against the backdrop of blues and browns creates an interesting tension that evokes that sense of uneasiness that many early 20th century citizens likely shared during times of quick societal changes. You could even analyze this artwork semiotically: Kirchner wasn't just painting a nude, but something that has deeper connections with a subjective inner turmoil, wouldn't you agree? Curator: I do. And I would push you to go even further. I think for Kirchner it isn't so much about inner turmoil, but a genuine exploration of being and emotion and a genuine response to what he experienced in the streets of Dresden at the time, it almost feel journalistic. Take, for example, his choice of elongated forms... he wasn't striving for the illusion of realism. It makes us see things differently, makes us truly confront what lies before us in order to understand it better, wouldn’t you say? Editor: True, his figures do tend to escape convention... which ultimately invites me to explore new emotional states, even disquieting ones. "Nude Woman Combing Her Hair" isn't just a representation of a figure—it embodies it. The figure seems a perfect synthesis of form and experience! Curator: So next time, dear listeners, as you go about your day in the streets or wherever you may be, try to go back to how this makes you feel and explore your world a little bit more, shall we? Editor: Exactly, you'll experience more than just the picture: it reflects you.