Frankfurt am Main vom vom Wendelsweg in Sachsenhausen aus gesehen 

Curator: Take a look at Carl Morgenstern's pencil drawing, "Frankfurt am Main vom Wendelsweg in Sachsenhausen aus gesehen," which roughly translates to "Frankfurt am Main from Wendelsweg in Sachsenhausen Seen From." The piece resides here at the Städel Museum. Editor: My first impression is quiet. It's soft, like a half-remembered dream of a city. The pale colors and delicate lines give it an ethereal quality. Is that... anxiety I'm feeling, perhaps related to an unclear future? Curator: Interesting, anxiety...The vantage point is everything, isn’t it? He’s positioned himself to give us this sense of distance, almost as though we're witnessing a fading memory. Editor: Exactly! You feel that geographical distance, but there’s also this sense of time slipping away. Those wispy trees, are those supposed to provide reassurance through grounded natural forms, I wonder, or a memento mori? It reads as very Romantic in its concern with ephemerality, while not being grand or melodramatic at all. It’s subtle about it. Curator: Indeed, that placement speaks volumes, especially given Romanticism's affinity for landscapes mirroring emotional states. He uses subtle visual cues in a very emotionally direct manner. It really echoes that German sensibility where you feel everything is layered with meaning. Editor: The skyline of Frankfurt, rendered so faintly, becomes a symbol itself, right? Towers and steeples, reaching for something… but what is it? And seen through the veil of the past. One might almost describe this picture as "iconic", but I suppose I use that word far too loosely. Curator: Ha! You've certainly given me a few things to ponder there. This makes me wonder what that place must have meant to Carl Morgenstern, since even the most mundane image may have its significance for a particular artist. It almost seems as if it invites endless stories that stretch from then until now. Editor: It’s a drawing that breathes, and it makes you feel. Let us remember, shall we, as Frankfurt transforms and time races by?