Mother and Children 1925

This ink drawing, ‘Mother and Children’ is by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, though the date of its creation is unknown. Kirchner was a German expressionist painter and printmaker. With quick and frenetic lines, Kirchner captures a raw and honest glimpse into motherhood. The mother figure is depicted frontally, standing tall. Her face is sharp and angular, betraying exhaustion. The children appear playful and full of energy, one crouches by her feet and another sits to the left. The looseness of line gives the picture a sense of immediacy, like a snapshot of a fleeting moment. While the figures are nude, and their nakedness could be thought to represent the figures' vulnerability, it is also suggestive of the kind of freedom sought by members of Die Brücke, the artist group Kirchner co-founded in Dresden in 1905. 'Mother and Children' feels intimate, offering viewers access to a private world. It’s not idealized, but rather seems deeply personal.