The Sea near Staberhuk

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner made this print during the first year that he learned the lithographic process. In contrast to convention, he wished to make it immediately apparent that a lithograph was not a drawing. To do so, he used lithographic wash to draw right to the edges of the stone, abruptly cutting off the composition and emphasizing the stone’s irregular contour with inked edges. The spontaneity of the quickly drawn marks that mimic the weather and wind of the sea, coupled with the emphasis on the materiality of the stone, matched Kirchner’s quest for truth in his art.