Two People 1910

Erich Heckel made this woodcut, Two People, using stark black lines carved into a block. It’s like he's digging into the human psyche, not just the wood. The faces, wow, they're intense. The texture is rugged, and you can almost feel the pressure of the tool as it scraped away the wood. Look at the eyes, especially on the left. They’re huge and stare right through you. The lines are so bold and decisive, creating an emotional punch. The graininess adds a raw, unfiltered quality. It's like seeing a thought before it’s refined. It makes me think of Kirchner, another German Expressionist, who wasn't afraid to show the rough edges of human emotion. Art's not about being pretty, it's about digging in.