Styria, The Enns (A Guide Through Austria For Extraterrestrial Beings No. 2) 65 1965

Christian Attersee made this, Styria, The Enns, at an unknown date. He titled it "A Guide Through Austria For Extraterrestrial Beings No. 2", so it's like he’s making an inventory for aliens. It’s all brushy and blobby, and feels kind of thrown down in a hurry. Check out the surface. The way the water flows. It’s like he used a really big brush and just scrubbed it all in, making the river alive and kind of scary. There's something really physical about how he handles paint; it’s not subtle but more like he’s wrestling with it. It makes me think of Guston, how he wasn’t afraid of clumsy or dumb looking images. Look at the figure. She’s caught in a moment of tension or surprise. That arm shooting up in the air! It’s like a lightning bolt and it makes the whole painting feel urgent and unresolved.