Kasperltheater 1907

This is Hans Kalmsteiner's "Kasperltheater", made with pen and ink and watercolor. It's kinda small, like a playing card, but it’s packed with these characters that just pull you right in. I can imagine Hans hunched over this, carefully laying down each color, building up this whole scene, probably in one sitting. The little triangles around the edge really make the image pop, don't they? And the colors are so bold: reds, blues, a touch of gold. Look at the guy with the horn, the harlequin, and the other with the box! The black backdrop almost makes it seem like a stage. Maybe he was at the theatre while he was painting, jotting down ideas. It's like he’s sharing a secret with us. But that’s the thing about painting, isn't it? It’s not just about what you see, but what you feel, and how it all connects. It doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to make you feel *something*. I love that.