Kritiek 1923

Erich Wichmann made "Kritiek" in 1923; it's a print, so that’s a process right there. The colours are almost not there; a ghostly grey, and the texture is soft, like it was made with charcoal or some kind of powdery substance. It looks like the surface of a wall where someone has tried to rub something out. I like the way the artist has let the marks just sit there on the paper, not trying to make them perfect or realistic. If you look closely at the mouth, it’s just a dark smudge, but it speaks volumes. I think of artists like Käthe Kollwitz, who could say so much with so little. This print reminds us that art isn’t about showing off skill, it’s about feeling and expression, and sometimes the simplest marks are the most powerful.