In the Christmas Night 1913

John Bauer made this whimsical drawing, ‘In the Christmas Night,’ probably with ink and watercolor on paper, and it feels like a story unfolding. The palette is mostly muted – blacks, grays, and browns, which gives the whole scene a kind of hushed, mysterious vibe. I’m really drawn to the way Bauer uses these colors to create depth. The trees in the background fade into the darkness, while the snow in the foreground is subtly textured with light washes of gray and brown. It’s like he’s building the scene layer by layer, letting the colors blend and bleed into each other. Look at the textures in the trolls’ beards. You can see the individual strokes, how he’s built up the texture to give them a wild, unkempt look. This reminds me of Arthur Rackham, who had a similar sensibility for the grotesque and whimsical. Both artists seem to be saying that there’s more to the world than what we see on the surface. Art isn't about answers, but about opening up possibilities.