Street Scene, 1930

The Viennese painter Robert Kohl (1891–1944) rendered a modern metropolitan scene: Cars and busses are depicted driving along a broad street, with crowds of people walking in different directions in the foreground. Standing out from this crowd is a man on crutches on the right side of the street, who invests the carefree bustle with a socio-critical aspect. As in the cityscapes created by the German Expressionists, Kohl captured the activity in the metropolis with bold color accents, strong reflections of light and through a painterly-expressive dissolution of the contours. The tilt in the architectural perspective makes the facades appear as if they were teetering. This serves to emphasize the dynamic impression of the depiction as well as the fleetingness of the moment.

AK, 2021