Windmühle Auf Fehmarn 1908

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this etching, Windmühle Auf Fehmarn, using what looks like simple lines to create a complex scene. It’s cool to see how much information he can pack into a single line, and how he can make a landscape out of the bare minimum. The texture of the etching is something else. You can almost feel the scratches and the bite of the acid on the plate. Look at the way he’s described the foliage. It’s like a bunch of scribbles, but they totally read as leaves and branches. The windmill itself is more structural, built up from straight lines. But what I really love is the ground, how it’s all wiggly and nervous. That ground feels like it’s moving. Kirchner was part of a group of artists called Die Brücke, who were all about pushing the limits of expression. This print reminds me a little of some of the woodcuts made by Munch. It's a reminder that art is a constant conversation, an ongoing experiment in seeing and feeling.