Körper des Oberon, nackt und schwebend, nach links c. 1867 - 1868

Curator: Before us is "Körper des Oberon, nackt und schwebend, nach links," or "Body of Oberon, Naked and Floating, to the Left," a pencil drawing by Paul Konewka, dating back to around 1867 or 1868. It’s currently held at the Städel Museum. Editor: It's... tentative. Frail, almost. Like a phantom limb captured in graphite. What does Oberon's vulnerability say about idealized masculinity? Curator: Oberon, King of the Fairies, typically symbolizes power and enchantment. Yet, here, Konewka presents him stripped bare, seemingly weightless, echoing a yearning prevalent within the Romantic movement, an infatuation with folklore but rendered in light, tenuous strokes. The unfinished quality enhances a sense of longing, I think. Editor: I see your point about Romantic longing. But, doesn't this sketch also lay bare the constructed nature of even the most idealized forms? There's an exposure here – the pencil lines almost acting like an anatomical study, stripping away any notion of inherent power, showing that power itself must be drafted in by way of social structure, literally built from the bottom up. The act of depicting, by drawing the King’s "body," does not make him inherently regal or dominant; it suggests a process of "making." Curator: I find it interesting you focus on lack and stripping away! Considering fairy mythology is replete with such imagery. Think of changelings, substitutions. To what extent do you think these more esoteric, possibly darker, associations of fairylore are implicit in an otherwise innocuous sketch like this? The ethereal quality really lends itself to uncanny readings. Editor: That's insightful. Viewing it through the lens of changelings, the uncertainty of the form becomes unsettling, rather than merely Romantic. Perhaps it critiques the instability of identity, power structures always vulnerable to being displaced or transformed. The mythologizing of the male body carries its own fragility. Curator: Yes, fragility, the ephemeral captured imperfectly with each line! Editor: An imperfection pregnant with critical insight. Curator: Indeed, an unfinished moment offering itself for endless discussion.