Brunnen (Fountain) 1960

This is "Brunnen (Fountain)" by Anton Lehmden, an etching on paper. It's all in delicate lines, swirling and clustering to make up the figures and textures. Imagine Lehmden hunched over the plate, carefully drawing and biting into the metal, building up the image bit by bit. The figure reclining has this kind of sly, knowing look, like they’re in on some cosmic joke. I wonder what Lehmden was thinking about when he made this? About bodies, about decay, about pleasure, about what is above and what is below? You can see a similar kind of visionary approach in the work of other Viennese artists like Hundertwasser, all of them building on a legacy of Expressionist and Symbolist art. It's like they're tapping into some deeper, collective unconscious, pulling out these strange and compelling images. Ultimately it reminds us that art doesn't have to be about answers. Instead, it can be about the questions we ask.