It is programatic that the manifesto of the Brücke Artists' Group created by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 1906, was carved in wood and printed as a woodcut."...Whoever renders directly and authentically that which impels him to create is one of us.""Direct" and "authentic" creation as procalimed by the Brücke artists in the manifesto, are not only important characteristics of the artistic program but fundamental qualities inherent in the medium that was so important and popular among important members of artist group Brücke: Ernst Ludwig Kichner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff und Max Pechstein.
The woodcut motif is usually cut from the soft side grain of the wood and is less suitable for fine detail. Moreover, it is not the finely incised lines but rather the raised, uncut surfaces that are printed. Thus it was that the woodcut proved ideal for the typical boldness and flatness of style of the Brücke artists, and then in colour too. This “joint venture” into the woodcut by Kirchner, Heckel, Pechstein and Schmidt-Rottluff was to lead, by 1910, to the so-called “Brücke Style”, which came closest to their artistic ideal.
