Einzug König Etzels in Wien (zweiter Entwurf) 1908

Albin Egger-Lienz made this painting, "Entry of King Etzel into Vienna," with what looks like oil paint, and lots of it! You can see the making; it’s all about process. I love the surface, how the colors are scrubbed on, and then dragged. Look at the way the darker tones pull forward. Then there’s that incredible line of ladies on the left, so pale and luminous. They’re almost ghostly, like a memory, which is kind of what history painting always is. This piece makes me think about Courbet. He also used heavy impasto to tell a story. In both artists’ work, paint becomes a way of building something up, not just an illustration, but an event. Art, in that sense, is about history. It's about the stories we tell ourselves. And like any good story, there’s always room for more than one version.