Portrait of Alois Wach, in "Der Weg 1" (January 1919) c. 1918

Curator: This is Fritz Schaefler's woodcut "Portrait of Alois Wach," printed in January 1919 in "Der Weg 1". Editor: Wow, intense! It looks like a face exploding into shards of anxiety. Curator: The stark black and white, the angular fracturing of form—it’s a powerful visual language. Note how Schaefler uses the wood grain itself to add texture and depth, almost a tangible sense of unease. Editor: It makes me wonder what was going on in Wach’s head, or maybe in Schaefler's. It's like they're both feeling the aftershocks of something big. Curator: The fracturing could represent the fragmenting of identity in the face of societal upheaval post-World War I. It's a portrait that speaks volumes through abstraction. Editor: True, the expressionistic style really conveys this sense of internal turmoil. I won’t forget this one anytime soon.