mixed-media, print
mixed-media
oil painting
naive art
Dimensions 17 1/2 × 13 9/16 in. (44.45 × 34.45 cm) (image)18 3/8 × 1 1/16 in. (46.67 × 2.75 cm) (sight)
This is Johanna Metzner's 'Garden Bouquet', looks like a color print. Imagine her in the studio, layering colors, maybe a little nervously, trying to find the right balance. I'm struck by how the thick outlines and blocks of color give the flowers this bold, graphic quality. It’s like she’s built this bouquet from shapes, not just colors. The blue vase is a deep, anchoring presence, holding this explosion of bright flowers—reds, yellows, greens, and purples. I wonder if Metzner was looking at the German Expressionists, like Emil Nolde or Paula Modersohn-Becker. They also shared that love for intense color and simplified forms. Metzner made it her own. She shows us that painting is all about conversations across time. Her work inspires and keeps the dialogue going. It encourages us to consider, reflect, and create something new.
Comments
Johanna Metzner studied in Weimar, Germany, and is thought to have lived in nearby Erfurt. After printing Garden Bouquet, she went back in with a brush and added hand coloring to the blues and purples, and decorated the background with slashes of tan. Because woodcuts didn’t require a printing press, people could make them at home. They simply needed a knife, a block of wood or linoleum, inks, and a wooden spoon to rub along the back of the paper to transfer color from the inked block.
Join the conversation
Join millions of artists and users on Artera today and experience the ultimate creative platform.
CollectMore like this
