Runner 1934

Willi Baumeister made this print, Runner, and you can see how it's been built up layer by layer, decision by decision. I can almost feel him there in the studio, pushing the ink around, the squeegee gliding over the block, trying to coax this figure into being. It’s like he’s wrestling with form itself, trying to pin down this idea of movement. The figure emerges from these dark shapes against a pale background. Is it running? Is it falling? I like how Baumeister leaves it open to interpretation. It's not just a literal depiction, but a kind of symbol, an essence of running captured in ink. You know, like how Picasso was always looking at things from multiple angles at once, Baumeister seems to be showing us not just the runner, but also the space around the runner, the energy of the run itself. Ultimately, this print is an invitation. An invitation to move, to question, to run with it.