Nude Dancer

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

National Gallery of Art

This print shows bold, curving lines surrounding a central rectangle which encloses the black silhouette of a person with their legs bent and arms raised. Their bent knees are high, and their body is so close to the ground they are almost sitting. Their feet are in the bottom corners of the rectangle, while their hands are in the top corners. The black silhouette is set against white paper, and the borders of the rectangle are made of white and black lines. The swirling shapes that surround the central rectangle resemble stylized waves or curls with circles cut from them, and these shapes are in white against a black background.