Fir forest c. 1925

Editor: So, this is "Fir Forest," a chalk, charcoal and pencil drawing on paper created around 1925 by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, currently housed in the Städel Museum. It feels…sketchy, but not in a bad way. There’s a starkness to the shading that gives it a weighty presence despite being on paper. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ah, Kirchner... Even in a seemingly simple sketch like this, he pours himself onto the page, doesn't he? Forget perfectly rendered trees, he’s giving us the *experience* of being lost in a forest, a shadowy interiority made visible. Look at the nervous energy of those lines, clawing into the paper. It's less a depiction and more of a primal scream transcribed onto paper. Makes you wonder what was eating at him then, eh? Editor: Primal scream? Wow. I was focused on the visual but…yes, that tension is really clear now. Do you think that has something to do with him being a German Expressionist? Curator: Spot on! Expressionism wasn’t about pretty pictures. These artists wanted to crack open the veneer of polite society and show the raw, often unsettling, truth underneath. Kirchner, with his troubled history, did it brilliantly. His forest isn't a place of tranquility, but of psychological unrest. Don’t you almost feel…trapped in there? Editor: I do, actually. Especially because there isn't a single path to guide the viewer... It’s unsettling and makes me want to go elsewhere! Curator: Isn’t it wonderful how a few lines can convey so much emotion! The lack of detail actually speaks volumes about the overwhelming nature of our darker thoughts, perhaps? Anyway, now what will you carry forth in your artistic life, my friend? Editor: Well, to see seemingly rough drawings can have just as much, if not more, impact as hyperrealistic art! I will always look at these "simple" pieces with more depth and awareness.