Club Table (Tischgesellschaft) Possibly 1907

Emil Nolde's Club Table, or Tischgesellschaft, is a masterclass in mood, achieved through a deceptively simple monochrome palette. The density of marks suggests an intense process, each line a decision, a struggle to capture something fleeting. I find myself drawn to the textures Nolde coaxes from the plate. Look at the way he renders the coats of the figures – a flurry of etched lines creating a sense of weight and substance. The density of the cross-hatching in the background is balanced by the relative emptiness of the table, where light seems to gather, highlighting the unseen drama unfolding. This area, with its contrast to the rest of the composition, suggests a focal point or perhaps a shared secret, inviting us to imagine what ties this group of figures together. Consider Käthe Kollwitz, another German artist who used printmaking to explore themes of social realism. Like Kollwitz, Nolde embraces ambiguity, leaving space for our interpretations, for our own stories to fill the silence of the scene.