Gelbes Engelufer in Berlin 

Editor: Here we have "Gelbes Engelufer in Berlin", an oil painting, possibly by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. It strikes me with its melancholic mood, even though the colours are warm. It's like a pre-war unease settled onto a rather ordinary city street. What do you see in it? Curator: The way the materials are handled here tells us so much. Notice how Kirchner builds up the paint, creating a tactile surface that almost vibrates. This wasn't just about depicting a cityscape; it was about *making* one, forcing materiality to convey modern life's intensity. Editor: I see. So, it’s not just about the image, but also about what he physically *did* with the paint. What was Expressionism’s role here? Curator: Exactly! Expressionism isn't about representing the world; it’s about externalizing inner feelings. Kirchner chose rough application techniques over traditional artistry because of that. In many ways, the consumption and sale of paintings like this funded a lifestyle – can you spot the labour here? Editor: Is it in the application technique? Kirchner does leave traces of the labour. Curator: Yes, and beyond that – who ground the pigment? Who stretched the canvas? What was the social position of art-making in pre-war Germany, with its shifting class structures and anxieties about industrialization? The anxieties of pre-war Germany come to mind. The art itself serves to distract. Editor: I see, understanding art then depends on our cultural understanding of its processes and making too, which brings it alive again. Thank you for enlightening me. Curator: Absolutely. The process reveals the artist’s own world. It opens doors to how it all comes together as something people appreciate as “art.”