Old Market in Dresden with Annual Fair 1910

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this print of the Old Market in Dresden, most likely with lithographic crayon, giving it a really velvety darkness in places. I love the way the image is built up from small, expressive marks. It gives you a sense of the energy and excitement of the annual fair, a real bustling scene. Kirchner’s tool seems to skate and stutter across the surface of the paper, catching on the tooth of the grain. The dark, almost smudged lines give a real sense of the physical process; it’s like you can see the artist at work. Look at the top left corner, the way the dark sky is suggested by broad, almost scribbled marks which seem to radiate out from a central point. Kirchner was part of the ‘Die Brücke’ group, and you see some of that expressionist intensity in the way he captures the atmosphere of the city. It reminds me a little of Edvard Munch, that same raw, emotional response to the world around them. Art is like a conversation, right?