Herbstabend c. 1924

Karl Wiener made this small drawing, Herbstabend, probably from life, using colored pencils. Imagine him, quickly trying to capture the fading light. I like how the dark, solid mountain range anchors the composition, with the riotous colors of the sunset bleeding and smearing behind the dark clouds, as though trying to break through. There is a sense of urgency here. The sun will dip below the horizon and the moment will be lost forever. There's a naive and slightly clumsy quality to the application of the colored pencils, which gives it its charm. The mountains are just a bunch of scribbled lines, which any child could do. It’s like Wiener is saying, hey, don’t forget, painting is a craft, yes, but also a form of looking, feeling, and remembering. You don’t need to be fancy to capture a memory.