Girl, Fränzi
1910
Fränzi was one of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s favorite muses, a young girl he often paid to pose for his wild, jagged Expressionist paintings. Here, she looks almost like a wooden carving come to life, with her sharp, angular face and heavy-lidded eyes staring out with a cool, detached vibe. Kirchner and his Die Brücke group wanted to break away from stuffy academic art, so they drew quickly and boldly, capturing raw emotion over perfect realism.