Traber Team 1930

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this painting, "Traber Team", and well, when, we are not exactly sure, but let's dive in! I love how Kirchner uses these bold, almost graphic shapes to suggest movement and speed. You can almost feel the horses galloping. Look at the paint itself, it’s not trying to hide. The colors are laid down flatly and unapologetically. The brushstrokes are visible, like he's saying, "Yeah, I made this, and here's how." See how the blue slashes across the horses? It's not about perfect realism, it's about capturing the feeling of the moment. The black lines, so sure and assertive, they give the whole thing a kind of nervous energy. Kirchner reminds me of someone like Marsden Hartley in that he wasn’t afraid to simplify and abstract, to get to the raw essence of what he was seeing and feeling. For Kirchner, art felt like a conversation, an exploration, and an embrace of ambiguity.