Portrait of Alfred Döblin c. 1913

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this drawing, Portrait of Alfred Döblin, with pencil and crayon on paper. Look at all of those lines! It’s like Kirchner is trying to figure out what Döblin looks like right in front of us. I can imagine him circling around the real Döblin, his eyes darting to the page, then back again, trying to capture not just his face, but maybe even his thoughts! It's like he wants to get to the bottom of something, trying to understand how he feels about his subject. What I like most about portraiture is that it always reveals just as much about the artist as it does about the sitter. Kirchner’s expressive style reminds me of other artists like Egon Schiele or even Alice Neel, you know? They all have this raw, immediate quality. Painters are always in conversation with one another, across time, inspiring each other. This piece feels like a question, an exploration, and an invitation all rolled into one.