Mocking of Christ 1909

Emil Nolde made this painting, Mocking of Christ, with oil on canvas, and it's currently hanging out at the Brücke Museum in Berlin. Nolde's got this way of smearing paint around like he's wrestling with it, or maybe like he's digging in the dirt, and the colors, they're not pretty in a conventional sense. There is a sickly green on Christ's face. It's this intense, raw expression, a kind of emotional vomit splashed across the canvas. Take a look at those hands – knotted, desperate. You can almost feel the texture of the canvas through the thin paint. This painting feels like a punch in the gut. It reminds me of the work of someone like James Ensor, who also wasn't afraid to get ugly and confrontational with his art. It’s a reminder that art doesn't always have to be pretty, it can be a scream, a protest, a raw nerve exposed.