Radrennen Possibly 1923

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this watercolor painting of a bicycle race, probably in Switzerland, with thin washes of color and bold crayon lines. It feels like he was trying to capture not just the scene, but the feeling of speed and excitement. Look at how he uses these quick, scribbled lines to define the cyclists and the crowd. The colors are bright, almost jarring – purples, blues, and yellows clashing against each other. It's like he's throwing color at the paper to see what sticks. There's a sense of urgency in the way he works, a need to get everything down as quickly as possible. See that area of chaotic scribbles in the upper left? It makes me think about how memory works: a jumble of impressions that come together to form a picture. Kirchner was part of the Expressionist movement, and you can see that here in his raw, emotional approach. It reminds me a little of Raoul Dufy, who also used watercolor to capture fleeting moments, but Kirchner's version feels more anxious, more immediate. It's a reminder that art doesn't have to be perfect to be powerful.