Head of Dr. Robert Binswanger (the Student)

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

1918

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Early Modern Portrait

About this work

This is a black-and-white woodcut of a face with sharp, angular lines. The eyes are large and staring, surrounded by heavy, jagged shapes. Behind the head, palm fronds twist into the background like dark, tangled hair. The artist used only black ink on white paper, carving away the background to leave the lines. The face looks tense, almost like it’s screaming inside. Try looking up woodcut to see how this printmaking technique works.