Sitzende und vier Badende I 1914 - 1918

Otto Mueller made this lithograph called ‘Sitzende und vier Badende I’ with crayon, ink and scraper. I really like that the way he draws is so free, it’s like he’s just letting his hand move across the stone. Looking closely, you can see how he's built up the darks with these scribbly marks, almost like he’s shading with a pencil. Then he’s scratched back into it to make the highlights, to give the bodies shape. The surface has this amazing texture, like rough velvet. See the way the black crayon is kind of broken and uneven? I love how this relates to the rest of his work, he’s always exploring ways of making marks, with a real directness. It reminds me a bit of Paula Modersohn-Becker’s prints; they both have this really raw, honest way of depicting the human body. Art is always a conversation between artists, a back-and-forth of ideas. And sometimes, the most interesting things are the questions left unanswered, the spaces left open.