Bathers in Reeds 1924

Otto Mueller made Bathers in Reeds with distemper on canvas, and I can only imagine the sensation of working with that medium - the powder mixed with glue, each stroke matte and dry. Look at the way he’s laid down those pinks and greens, so soft and chalky, like a memory of a summer day. I picture him squinting at the light, trying to capture how it filters through the reeds, turning the water into a shimmering haze. Those two figures wading in the shallows, they’re not quite defined, are they? They're more like ghosts, emerging from the landscape itself. There’s something so vulnerable and exposed about their nakedness, a kind of primal innocence. You know, painting’s funny like that. It's about conjuring feelings, hinting at stories, leaving space for us to fill in the blanks. Mueller, like all painters, was in conversation with the past and future of painting, and with us too. His paintings invite us to bring our own experiences and interpretations to the work.