Sitzende und vier Badende I 1914 - 1918

Otto Mueller made this evocative print of bathers with lithographic crayon. It’s got that rough, velvety texture that comes from the grease of the crayon on the stone. You can imagine him drawing and redrawing, building up the darks, maybe wiping away to create those pale figures. I can almost feel Mueller coaxing these women into being. There they are, caught between light and shadow, their forms emerging from the watery depths. It reminds me a bit of how Picasso and Matisse approached similar subjects, but Mueller brings his own earthy, expressive touch. Look at the way he suggests the water with these simple horizontal strokes, how the figures blend and bleed into their surroundings. It's this kind of mark-making that feels so deeply human. Every line, every smudge tells a story of feeling. It’s a reminder that we’re all part of a bigger conversation, reaching back through history, and making something new.