Forest Scene c. 1909 - 1925

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner painted this Forest Scene with oil on canvas, and those quick marks are so full of energy, right? You can almost feel him wrestling with the image. Look at the figures nestled among the trees – they're not really blending in but more like vibrating against the landscape. And the colors, so bright, so unapologetic. See how he's used these strokes of greens, oranges, and pinks to build up the forms? It’s like he’s throwing color at the canvas and somehow it all sticks. There’s a rawness here, an immediacy. My favorite part is the way he’s painted the tree trunks, those grey vertical marks feel sturdy. It reminds me a little of Matisse, but with a wilder, more anxious energy. Kirchner isn't afraid to leave things unresolved, and it's that willingness to embrace the messy, the unfinished, that makes the painting so alive. It's a reminder that art is a process, a journey, not just a destination.