Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte: Begegnung Schlemihls mit dem grauen Männlein auf der Landstrasse (Peter Schlemihl's Wondrous Story: Schlemihl Encounters the Little Gray Man on the Road) 1915

This is Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's woodcut, made sometime around 1915, illustrating Adelbert von Chamisso’s *Peter Schlemihl’s Wondrous Story.* The colors are wild, aren't they? Jagged blues, reds and greens clash together, mirroring the inner turmoil of the main character who sold his shadow. The woodcut itself has a raw, almost violent feel. You can sense the artist attacking the block with his tools. Look at the stark contrast of the black hat against the white face of the "little gray man", it’s unsettling. The physical act of carving lends a graphic quality, a kind of emotional shorthand. A gesture becomes a grimace. The whole thing feels incredibly immediate and expressive, like Kirchner is wrestling with the story right there on the block. Kirchner, like his contemporaries Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff in Die Brücke, was obsessed with capturing modern angst. He sought to reveal the world through feeling not just observation. You can really see the influence of Edvard Munch. Ultimately it reminds us that art is not about answers, but about grappling with questions.