Still Life with Sculpture in front of a Window 1935

This is ‘Still Life with Sculpture in front of a Window’ by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, we don't know exactly when but it's made with oil on canvas. And what strikes me immediately is the way he lets us see his process. It’s not about hiding the work, it’s about the making, the physical act. Look at that sculpture, laid out like a forgotten toy, its yellow-orange hue almost fluorescent against the muted background. The texture is smooth, almost too smooth, and the paint seems thinly applied, as if Kirchner wanted to capture the light reflecting off its surface. The background is so strange, it looks like a window but somehow also feels like a wall. And then there are those little circles floating around. They are almost childlike. I mean, you could say that it is all about the relationship between interior and exterior spaces, but maybe it's just about trying to make something interesting. Kirchner, like the Fauves, embraced bold, unnatural colors to convey emotion. This piece, with its distorted perspective and jarring color combinations, reminds me a bit of Matisse, but with a darker, more anxious edge. Art isn't about answers; it's about questions.