Untitled (figure abstraction) 1948

Editor: So, here we have Hans Gustav Burkhardt’s "Untitled (figure abstraction)" from 1948. It appears to be a graphite or pencil drawing, perhaps a print. It has this fragmented feel, almost like a shattered dream. I'm intrigued by how the figure is both present and absent, just hinted at. What do you make of it? Curator: Fragmented is a great word for it! It reminds me a bit of looking through a broken mirror, you know? All these sharp angles and swirling lines create this sense of unease, like a half-remembered memory clawing its way back to the surface. Burkhardt was working in a post-war context, so this sense of trauma and dislocation probably informed a lot of his artistic choices. The human form seems present but also obscured – it’s there, then gone, in a flick of a line. What feelings does that provoke in you? Editor: That "flick of a line" disappearing, really resonates! I initially saw only abstraction, but now I can see the ghost of a figure trying to emerge. It makes me think of trying to grasp something just out of reach. Did this style resonate with other artists at the time? Curator: Absolutely! Think of artists grappling with similar themes, trying to depict the unspeakable anxieties of the era. This echoes with other Abstract Expressionists exploring similar ground— trying to use non-representational forms to evoke powerful emotional and psychological states. So, we are looking at abstraction not as pure formalism but imbued with potent expressive meaning, in ways not initially apparent. Editor: That makes perfect sense! It's less about what it is, and more about how it feels. Thanks for making me think about abstraction in a new light. Curator: My pleasure. Art should spark dialogue and I see this as an invitation to feel your way through uncertainty, chaos even – in pursuit of finding one’s center. And sometimes that is all art needs to be: an invitation.