People on the deck chair c. 1935

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this drawing, People on the deck chair, with ink and watercolour, probably en plein air. It’s like he’s thinking out loud, right there on the page. I love the way he’s used these loose, expressive lines to capture the figures lounging in their chairs and the landscape behind. The colours are so limited, just ink and transparent washes of blue, yet it feels so rich, like a summer memory. Look how the blue seeps and bleeds across the page – it could almost be a Rothko. The grid of the paper showing through adds this great structure, like a foundation for the whole composition. You can see the hand of the artist, the quick decisions, the imperfections, all there on the surface. It’s like he’s saying, “Here I am, here’s how I see the world.” In a way, it reminds me of the drawings of Guston, or even Matisse, where line becomes everything. Art, after all, is an ongoing conversation.