Kopf 2 (Original Title) 1908

Here we have Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's haunting head study “Kopf 2,” a work that pulses with the anxieties of its time. Kirchner, a central figure in the German Expressionist group Die Brücke, lived through a period of intense social and political upheaval. The stark black and white contrast, achieved through woodcut, speaks to a world cleaved into opposing forces. There's an androgynous quality to the figure that unsettles traditional gender norms. The heavy, shadowed eyes hint at inner turmoil, reflecting the psychological impact of a society hurtling towards war. Kirchner himself struggled with mental health issues, a struggle perhaps mirrored in this raw, unflinching portrayal. "Art is not there to be understood," Kirchner once said, "but to be a mystery." In the mystery of this face, we see not just a portrait, but a reflection of a fractured self grappling with a changing world, a world not unlike our own.