The Garden Cafe 1914

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made 'The Garden Cafe' with oil on canvas. The way the yellow is used here, it’s not just colour, it's a kind of nervous energy, right? It’s a bit claustrophobic, a bit tilted, like the whole scene could slide right off the canvas. Look at the faces: they’re not exactly friendly or inviting; they’re all sharp angles and dark shadows. I like the way he's built the composition around a central round table. The way the thick paint and jagged lines give it a kind of rough, raw feeling. The yellow of the shirts almost vibrates against the dark greens and browns, creating this edgy tension. The brushstrokes are really visible, kind of frantic, and that adds to the feeling that something’s not quite right. Kirchner, like Munch, was good at capturing feelings of anxiety and unease. They both show you the inside.