Shanghai, Racecourse c. 1940s

Emma Bormann's "Shanghai, Racecourse" is a scene conjured with ink on paper, likely created in the early to mid 20th century. What strikes me is the energy in these marks, like Bormann is trying to capture not just a place, but a feeling, a memory of the city. The texture is built up through dense, cross-hatched lines that create a sort of nervous energy, almost like the city itself is vibrating. The sky, a mass of scribbled lines, feels heavy, full of anticipation. I see a small cluster of buildings on the right, rendered with particularly frantic marks. They remind me of huddled figures, maybe a crowd gathered to watch the race. This piece feels connected to the early modernist tradition, like James Ensor, where the depiction of the city becomes a psychological landscape, a reflection of inner states. It is the kind of art that reminds you that seeing is always a form of interpretation, not just a passive reception of the world.