Two Girls in Landscape 

Otto Mueller, an artist active in Germany in the early 20th century, created “Two Girls in Landscape” with distemper on burlap. A humble material, burlap’s rough texture and open weave would have presented challenges. Mueller allows the texture of the burlap to peek through, creating a subtle tension between representation and material reality. The distemper, an early form of paint, adds a chalky, matte quality to the surface. Though he was associated with the expressionist group Die Brücke, Mueller's style has a more subdued feel. He was deeply interested in the lifestyles of marginalized communities, and in a deliberately naive manner of representation. He worked outside the prevailing assumptions of academic oil painting. Burlap, traditionally used for sacks and utilitarian purposes, contrasts sharply with the refined canvases of high art. By choosing such a material, Mueller collapses distinctions between fine art and craft, bringing attention to the everyday and challenging conventional notions of artistic value. The materials prompt us to consider the social and economic contexts in which art is made and consumed.