Lady in the Rain

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

1914

ink

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Early Modern

About this work

This print shows a woman standing in the rain, her coat pulled tight around her. The water streams down in thick, jagged lines, blending her with the dark shapes around her. Her face is half-hidden, and the whole scene feels rough and urgent, like the ink itself is dripping. The artist used a printing method where ink sits on a smooth stone, pressed onto paper. That’s why the lines look both sharp and smudged at once—like the rain itself. Check out lithography to see how this technique works.