The Dancer Nina Hard 1921

Editor: This is Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's etching, "The Dancer Nina Hard," at the Harvard Art Museums. I find the dancer's gaze really intense, but what's with those figures dancing in the background? It feels a bit unsettling. What do you make of it? Curator: Unsettling is a good word. Kirchner was wrestling with modern life, a life of bright lights and alienation. The background figures are like echoes, maybe of Nina’s performance, but also ghosts. Do you think they mimic or mock her? Editor: Mock, maybe? There's something disconnected about the image. Curator: Exactly! It’s a portrait, yes, but also a fractured mirror reflecting a changing world and the artist’s anxieties about it. Editor: I hadn't considered it that way, but now it seems so obvious. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure! It's always a treat to explore the depths of Kirchner's perspective.