Kämpfe – Qualen der Liebe 1915

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made "Kämpfe – Qualen der Liebe" using woodcut techniques. The colour scheme and bold marks give the image its immediacy. What interests me about woodcut is that it’s a process; the artist is trying to resolve the image, working with the grain and structure of the wood itself. The rawness of the medium is so apparent here. Look at the deep, textured blacks. You can see the marks of the knife, almost violently digging into the material, it feels physical. The acid reds and blues are really intense, reminiscent of German Expressionism, but Kirchner’s use of abstraction creates a unique emotional intensity. The face, split into planes and angles, seems to express psychic anguish and struggle. Artists like Munch explored similar themes of psychological turmoil, and there is something of that here, but Kirchner's approach feels altogether more modern. Art isn't about answers, it's about the questions we ask and the connections we make.