Selbstporträt (in fantastischer Gesellschaft) 1931

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler made this watercolor painting called "Self-Portrait (in Fantastic Company)" sometime in the 20th century. Her use of color, like these chalky pinks and blues, creates an odd tension, like a dream that is both beautiful and disturbing. The thin, transparent washes of color let the paper breathe, but then she hits you with these thick, dark outlines, which create a real sense of unease. See the way she renders her own face, the deep lines around her mouth, and the haunted look in her eyes. There’s a raw honesty here, a refusal to pretty things up, that I find really compelling. And the figures around her, these ghostly apparitions, they feel like manifestations of her inner turmoil. Lohse-Wächtler's unflinching gaze reminds me of Paula Modersohn-Becker, another artist who dared to depict women with such vulnerability and strength. Both artists invite us to embrace the complexities of the human experience, to find beauty in the broken, and to see the world through eyes that are both fierce and tender.