Porträt Frau Signe Hallberg 1916

Editor: We're looking at Gabriele Münter's "Portrait of Mrs. Signe Hallberg" from 1916, an oil painting. There’s something quite domestic, almost… fragile about the portrait. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: It feels very intimate, doesn’t it? Almost like glimpsing a private moment. For me, Münter's work here really encapsulates that early Expressionist tension between capturing a likeness and conveying inner emotion. There's a looseness to the brushstrokes, the colors slightly…unrealistic. But that lends it such honesty, wouldn't you say? Notice how the blue and yellow of the background fight with the red. Are they competing or harmonious? Editor: I see what you mean about the colours creating tension. And I love how her face is not idealized, it feels so modern and real. Curator: Absolutely. It defies convention. And remember, 1916! Women were finding new voices and perspectives, just as modernism was giving painters license to do whatever the hell they felt! The slight smile is almost mischievous, don't you think? Like she knows a secret. Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way. She does look like she knows something! So much more interesting than a perfect portrait. Curator: Exactly! It feels alive, which, for me, is what good art, maybe even all art, should feel like: ALIVE. Editor: I’ll definitely look at Münter differently now. It makes me want to go find out more about her work!