In this artwork, how is the Description discussed?
Street, Berlin depicts a busy street scene as men and women walk down the sidewalk. Two women in the central foreground are the focal point of the piece. The woman on the left wears a purple dress, a pop of color which contrasts with the mostly black clothing of the men that surround the pair. The men in the background form an undifferentiated mass; their clothes flow into one another and their non-distinct facial features cause the viewer to connect with the women because they are the only two with a sense of identity. Kirchner uses some anti-naturalistic color in this piece including the skin of the figures which varies between shades of pink and orange as well as the blue and pink shades in the scenery. The anti-naturalistic tones are common in German Expressionism and in his other work during this time period.
Kirchner's brushwork is loose and visible. The tilting downward of the perspective and the opposing diagonals in the brushwork create distortion and a sense of bustling motion. The viewer feels confronted with the people in the street, as if they about to spill off the canvas and into our space. Ideas of expression within German art carry all the way from Grünewald to Kandinsky, and Kirchner builds upon the idea of expressive brushwork and movement in his own pieces.
German Expressionism Berlin Grünewald