Arbeiter (Worker) 1921

Curator: Instantly, I'm struck by the intensity of the gaze in this portrait. It's unsettling, yet strangely compelling. Editor: You're looking at "Arbeiter (Worker)", an ink drawing created in 1921 by Conrad Felixmüller. He was a key figure in German Expressionism, and this piece exemplifies the art movement's social concerns. Curator: Expressionism indeed. Look at the starkness of the lines, almost violently rendering the man's features. It is as if Felixmüller intended to unmask this man and reveal, for lack of better term, his very nature as an industrial working class. Editor: That harshness, I think, mirrors the socio-political turmoil in Germany post-World War I. Felixmüller was very much engaged with the plight of the working class and the widespread political dissatisfaction with the new Weimar Republic. You have to contextualize his background to appreciate his message. Curator: But it is more than that, right? While the subject’s hat and jacket imply a certain socioeconomic status, Felixmüller warps his facial features into an almost caricatured form, the bulging eyes, the set of the mouth... are we meant to empathize, or recoil? The work is rife with psychological insight; he gives this figure more depth. Editor: And in terms of artistic legacy, it represents a critical intersection between art and politics during that era, particularly within the German Expressionist movement. Consider Felixmüller's association with the Dresdner Sezession Gruppe 1919, that political engagement fueled much of his artistic output. Curator: Well, it has certainly given me something to think about beyond the immediate formal elements. Felixmüller is not merely presenting us a man; he's presenting a condition, maybe an ultimatum. Editor: And to think that such potency lies within a simple ink drawing, it’s what elevates his status among his contemporaries.