Stehender weiblicher Akt 1925

Christian Rohlfs made this painting, Stehender weiblicher Akt, with what looks like gouache or maybe tempera, and charcoal, you know, the basics. There’s an urgency to the marks that tells me Rohlfs was interested in the here and now, not striving for perfection. Look how the blocks of terracotta colour come together to form a figure, and how the dark, almost violent charcoal cuts through the space, both defining and obscuring the form. Then notice how the charcoal extends out to form an almost cage-like structure. Is the figure contained or protected by it? That ambiguity, that feeling of push and pull, is what makes this painting so engaging. The surface has a matte quality to it, very dry, and it feels almost like the colours are rising up off the paper. Rohlfs' work reminds me of Paula Modersohn-Becker, another artist who wasn't afraid to show the raw, vulnerable side of the human form, that art is an ongoing conversation, with each artist adding their voice to the mix.