Bahnhof Königstein 1915 - 1916

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this drawing of Bahnhof Königstein with pencil on paper. The jumbled perspective and dynamic lines capture the bustling energy of a train station. I love how Kirchner fearlessly distorts space! I can imagine him standing on a platform, rapidly sketching the scene before him, trying to capture the chaos of modern life. His lines are quick and angular, like shards of glass, reflecting the fractured reality of the early 20th century. There's a sense of urgency in the way he renders the scene. You can see the influence of artists like Edvard Munch, and I think he’s also responding to the work of the Futurists, who were trying to capture the speed and dynamism of the machine age. Kirchner, like many artists, was in dialogue with his contemporaries, pushing the boundaries of what painting could be.