Korsfæstelsen I 1910

J.A. Jerichau II made this watercolor, Korsfæstelsen I, sometime before his death in 1916. The colors are muted, like a memory fading, but the black lines are bold, grabbing your attention. It feels raw, like a sketch, doesn't it? The kind of thing you might do to get a sense of the shapes, the movement of the figures. Look at the ground, these thick, blunt strokes. They aren't trying to trick you into thinking this is real, but this artifice makes the emotional impact stronger. The figures are all active and caught in the moment. Each mark, blob, and drip feels honest, like he wasn't trying to hide anything. Maybe that's the point. It's not about perfection, but about the feeling. I'm reminded of Rouault, that same kind of raw emotion. Art isn't about getting it "right," but about the conversation, the wrestling with ideas, and the willingness to show the struggle.