Interieur Bosshart 1922

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this print, "Interieur Bosshart," using etching, and it’s all about line, right? It's like he's thinking through the scene, letting the lines define the space and the figures, kind of like how we sketch when we're trying to figure something out. Look at the table’s edge, how the lines wobble and thicken – it’s not about perfect representation, it’s about feeling the weight and presence of the object. The etching medium itself lends a certain scratchiness. There is a tension between control and accident, which gives the print an incredible immediacy. You know who else played with that tension? Picasso. Both Kirchner and Picasso use line to carve out their own space. Kirchner invites us into this interior, but it's not a cozy, domestic scene. It’s a space of observation, of psychological intensity, where the lines reveal as much as they conceal.