The Tent 1914

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this painting, The Tent, with oil on canvas. It has a hallucinatory palette of scarlet and viridian. Look at this guy’s face, painted an eerie green! What was Kirchner thinking? Maybe he was trying to capture that feeling of being trapped or on display, like a performer under the big top. I can imagine him, brush in hand, wrestling with the canvas, trying to pin down that feeling of unease. The paint is thinly applied, with visible brushstrokes that create a sense of movement and energy. The tent itself looms in the background, a swirling mass of white and blue. It is a bit like the paintings of other German Expressionists, like Emil Nolde, who were also exploring the darker sides of human experience. Ultimately, painting is about taking risks, experimenting with new ways of seeing and feeling.