Rape II (Raub II, Weib halb) 1911

Wilhelm Lehmbruck created this etching titled "Rape II (Raub II, Weib halb)," using a plate measuring about 11 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. The way the figures are sketched with such sparse, almost hesitant lines, makes me think about the artist’s hand moving across the plate, unsure, searching for the right form. It's like watching a sculptor feeling their way around a form in the dark. I think the figures leaning into one another expresses something about human relationships. It's hard to know what their relationship is, but I bet Lehmbruck wanted it that way. The starkness of the line work and the lack of detail almost feel like the memory of a dream, fleeting and indistinct. It reminds me of other artists who were trying to capture the feeling of a moment, or an emotion, rather than just a literal representation. Lehmbruck wasn't just showing us figures; he was inviting us to feel something.