Ixion 1907 - 1910

Oluf Hartmann made this small watercolour, Ixion, on paper, sometime before 1910. The palette is muted, almost monochromatic – blues and browns mostly. Look at the way Hartmann has used the wash to build up the figure and the swirling cloud-like form – is it a cloud, or is it a woman? It’s all very ambiguous and atmospheric. I can imagine him, brush in hand, quickly and intuitively building up the image, letting the water do its thing, creating these soft, blurry edges. I sympathize with the artist. I know what it's like to try and capture a feeling, an idea, with just a few strokes of the brush. The blue around the figure almost feels like a bruise, or a shadow – a sense of melancholy perhaps? This little painting reminds me of other artists who were grappling with similar themes. Think of the expressive figures of Munch or the psychological landscapes of Hammershøi. We're all in conversation with each other, riffing off each other’s ideas, trying to make sense of the world in our own way.