American Girls (Original Title) 1911

Curator: This print, rendered through intaglio and woodcut techniques, is entitled "American Girls (Original Title)" and was completed by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 1911. Editor: My first impression is that the chromatic intensity seems almost violently at odds with the perceived languor of the two seated figures. Curator: Precisely. Consider how the seeming tranquility in the postures of the women—perhaps alluding to societal expectations of passivity and grace—is fundamentally undermined by the stark application of colour. Their blank faces are framed against a patterned green backdrop, perhaps to suggest a stifling atmosphere. Editor: The stark planes of colour delineate space and form, and that dramatic contrast emphasizes a certain emotional intensity characteristic of German Expressionism, where raw feeling is often conveyed through visual distortion. The flat rendering of the women’s forms also strips them of individual personality, making them types rather than individuals. Curator: Indeed, this can be linked to broader commentary on identity, on the commodification and objectification of women under burgeoning capitalism. We also might address questions of exoticism, in imagining what America might signify in the European consciousness in this era, not to mention, Kirchner's own potential biases at the time of depiction. Editor: Perhaps, but the work speaks eloquently through its very compositional structure: consider the formal dynamic of the figures in the foreground in relation to the background patterns. How the bold diagonals of the skirt disrupt the curvilinear motifs to enhance feelings of tension, even of the precariousness. Curator: Absolutely. This precariousness might be seen, metaphorically, in broader themes such as modernity’s disruption of traditional roles, the performance of gender under strain. What seems so stable is constantly being challenged and undermined. Editor: Indeed. On a purely formal level, I was also very captivated by how that dynamic creates its unique visual harmony, or indeed, controlled dissonance! Curator: Viewing Kirchner's creation, as an exploration into questions around gender, performance, and power, deepens our insights. Editor: Indeed. A piece such as this prompts us to revisit not only how it was conceived but, just as importantly, what visual language endures within its framework today.