Women on the Street 1915

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made ‘Women on the Street’ with oil on canvas. The strokes are swift, like he's trying to capture a fleeting moment, a feeling of urban tension and alienation. You can almost feel the city air buzzing around you. I imagine Kirchner standing before the canvas, a brush loaded with virulent colour, trying to make sense of the modern world. He was really trying to express something new with paint. The pigment sits flat on the surface, and the marks feel restless. The faces are masks, and the bodies compressed, and you feel as though they are caught in a web of their own making. Kirchner’s paintings are not just depictions, they are visceral responses to the world. I wonder what Kirchner would make of our world today? I think he'd be keeping a close eye on all of us painters out here. He might think we are all just copying each other, or he might find a kindred spirit who is willing to break the mould.