River Landscape with Crane and Barges 1927

This is Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's 'River Landscape with Crane and Barges,' made with a woodcut, sometime in the early part of the twentieth century. Kirchner’s colour choices are really interesting here; the bold teal against the rust and ochre. He’s used three blocks of colour to depict the entire scene. I love how he has embraced the materiality of this medium. The wood grain feels really present in the final image. See how the textures and patterns in the wood create an almost dizzying effect in the river, and contrast with the solidity of the mechanical forms of the crane. It’s like he is embracing the limitations of the medium to show the dynamism of modern industry. For me this piece speaks of German Expressionism and the Die Brücke group, nodding to a shared ethos where the process of artmaking is as much a part of the work as the final product.