Porträt einer Dame c. 1939

Karl Wiener made this portrait of a lady using pastels, and right away what strikes me is the way the colors vibrate and hum. It’s not about blending perfectly but letting the colors sit next to each other, creating this visual buzz. Look at how he builds the face, the way he uses strokes of orange, yellow, and even a touch of green. Each mark is visible, contributing to the overall texture and feeling. There's a real openness here, a willingness to let the process be seen. The red of her lips, so bright, is almost like a little exclamation point on a very subtle face. There's something about the directness of this piece that reminds me of Paula Modersohn-Becker. Both artists aren't afraid to show the raw, emotional undercurrent of portraiture. It's like they are saying, ‘Here is a person, not a perfect image, but a real, breathing human being.’ It’s a conversation across time, an ongoing exploration of what it means to be seen.