Zwei bemannte Boote auf hoher See 

Curator: Here we have Carl Morgenstern’s drawing, "Zwei bemannte Boote auf hoher See", housed right here at the Städel Museum. What catches your eye initially about this work? Editor: Well, the urgency is palpable. It's rendered simply, in pencil on paper, but the rapid strokes convey a real sense of struggle against the elements. The way the figures are huddled in those small boats speaks to vulnerability. Curator: Absolutely. Water, symbolically, often represents the unconscious, the chaotic unknown. Putting man against it always tells a very distinct narrative. Do you read the posture of the people in the boats as resigned or actively struggling against their environment? Editor: It is hard to read their attitude fully, as their faces are not fully rendered in the piece, but their posture seems to portray a concerted effort to stay safe within a potentially catastrophic situation. Considering the context, the means of survival for these men seems so basic - pencil, paper, boat, oars, sheer will - when the forces working against them were much bigger. It’s amazing that this could communicate so much about the work to be done here to simply not sink. Curator: And Morgenstern is using a very established trope – man against nature. Note how the image resonates beyond a single boating trip to the powerlessness of people, in a group, seeking for ways to achieve safety and navigate stormy waters and stay afloat. The boats can stand in for many types of groups. And even though we are looking at a pencil sketch, you almost sense the cold spray and relentless wind, don't you think? Editor: Yes, though the artist uses simple materials here to render that environmental power, it translates beautifully to any audience through the rendering of the situation in this work. This connects to me about this image. He made these figures’ plights accessible through line work, without any further artifice. It’s immediate. Curator: It truly is. And that stark simplicity lends itself, I think, to a powerful and enduring image of humanity challenged by immense forces. Editor: Yes, indeed, something for all of us to consider given current global events. Thanks for taking the time to reveal this drawing.