Drei Akte im Wasser, Moritzburg 1910

This woodcut, Drei Akte im Wasser, Moritzburg, was made by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, most likely around 1910. The process of making a woodcut is laborious, but its effects can be immediate, even visceral. Kirchner would have used special tools to cut away at a block of wood, leaving only the lines he wanted to print standing in relief. In this case, the stark black lines define three nude figures, presumably bathing. You can see that the cuts are rough, uneven, almost brutal. This isn’t refined craftsmanship, but a raw, direct kind of making. Woodcut has a long history as a popular medium, often associated with social and political commentary. Kirchner and other Expressionist artists embraced the medium for its graphic power and its connection to folk art traditions. But they also likely saw in the woodcut process a parallel to the alienation of modern labor; it's a process that demands physical work and a conscious engagement with the materiality of the wood itself. And in the end, it yields a strong image, communicating in no uncertain terms.