Großstadtstraße mit Trambahnen c. 1926

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this pastel drawing of a busy city street sometime in the early 20th century. The tramlines and buildings are quickly sketched, giving the impression of a city in perpetual motion. You can almost hear the clatter of the trams and the hustle of the crowds! Kirchner's use of pastels is interesting here. The colours are applied in blocks and dashes, with visible strokes that suggest a sense of urgency. Look at the figure in the foreground, the bold purple pastel makes him stand out, yet he seems isolated, a part of the urban landscape but also detached from it. The layers of color create texture, almost like the rough surfaces of buildings. There is a tension in the drawing, the vibrancy of the colours versus the unease of urban alienation. Kirchner was a key figure in German Expressionism, and you can see echoes of artists like Edvard Munch, who also explored themes of anxiety and the individual within the modern world. Like all great art, this drawing embraces ambiguity and invites us to bring our own experiences to it.