The Dance c. 20th century

This watercolor, "The Dance," by an unknown artist, is pure, unadulterated expression. The colors are immediate and raw. It's like the artist just grabbed whatever was on hand, and went for it. The paint here is thin and fluid, allowing the paper's surface to breathe. Look at the yellow ochre hills, with their thick black outlines, or the pale pink of the dancer's body. It's all about speed and intuition. There is such confident, gestural mark-making, like the painting was made in one sitting. Nothing labored, nothing overworked. I keep coming back to those trees, the way they are rendered with such disregard for realism, and yet, they are so full of life. The painting reminds me of other artists like Emil Nolde and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. They were all about this kind of expressive freedom and raw emotion. I think art is always a conversation, a back-and-forth across time and space.