Dorfstraße mit Apfelbäumen 1907

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner painted this village street with apple trees, we don't know exactly when. You can see how the whole image is built from these short, energetic strokes of color. It’s like he’s not just representing the scene but also showing us how he sees, how he feels. Look at the way the blue and orange fight it out on the road, making your eyes kind of vibrate. The paint is applied with a visible, almost frantic energy, and the colors are laid down in these thick, chunky marks that create a lively surface. Notice how the brushstrokes around the leaves of the tree on the left are like little explosions of green and yellow, with dabs of red for the apples. It's almost like he's trying to capture the energy of growth and abundance in the scene. Kirchner's work is often compared to that of Van Gogh, both of whom embraced bold colors and expressive brushwork. But Kirchner brings his own edgy sensibility, capturing a sense of unease beneath the surface of the everyday.