Manifesto of the Brücke artists’ group (title vignette) 1906

This is Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's woodcut title vignette for the Brücke artists’ group manifesto. Looking at it, I imagine Kirchner with his block of wood, carving into it, thinking about how to make the letters jump out at you, how to express the group’s radical ideas and youthful energy through typography. There’s a real graphic punch to this little print! It's raw and edgy. The contrast of black ink on white paper, the jagged edges—Kirchner wasn't interested in being delicate. The composition is bold and direct. You can feel the artist's hand at work, wrestling with the material, pushing it to its limits. I see the influence of German Expressionism here, that desire to capture raw emotion and inner experience through simplified forms and exaggerated lines. Kirchner's work reminds us that artists are always in conversation with each other, building on the ideas of the past, and pushing towards something new.