Girl with Cat (Franzi) 1910

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this oil painting called ‘Girl with Cat (Franzi)’ with broad brushstrokes, and a palette so intense it almost vibrates. I imagine Kirchner, staring intently, trying to catch a fleeting feeling. The cat, a moody purple, feels like a psychic extension of Franzi, a young girl whose orange skin is almost too warm to touch. The painting is raw, the feeling is immediate. Look how the artist tries to capture the girl’s gaze, a piercing blue that suggests a knowing beyond her years. I see Kirchner, grappling with how to express something true about this girl, about this moment. Like many painters, he is trying to work out what it means to be human. The distortions, the exaggerated colors, they’re not mistakes. They are emotional cues, a kind of visual code. It reminds me of Munch, or even Van Gogh – artists who weren't afraid to let their feelings bleed onto the canvas. Painting is a way of thinking through feeling, and in this painting, Kirchner leaves us plenty to think about.