Harfenspieler 1916

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this drawing, Harfenspieler, with ink. Look at those crazy lines, they are so raw and full of nervous energy! I imagine Kirchner with his pen just going to town on that paper. You can feel the speed of his hand, like he's trying to capture something fleeting. It's like he's not just drawing what he sees, but also how he feels. I see a harpist, maybe caught in a moment of intense concentration, and then there's that face floating above, like a ghostly echo of the music. What was he thinking about when he did this? Was he listening to music? Daydreaming? It reminds me a little of Cy Twombly’s work, or maybe even some of the automatic drawings the Surrealists were making, just letting the hand go where it wants. Kirchner is like a jazz musician, riffing on a theme, and he is trying to be free and to communicate across time. It is just a way of thinking, feeling, and seeing.