Mädchen in der Blumenwiese 1909

Editor: This is Carl Moll’s “Mädchen in der Blumenwiese,” painted in 1909 using oil paints en plein-air. I'm struck by the texture – you can almost feel the roughness of the paint mimicking the wildflowers. What do you make of it, looking at the formal aspects? Curator: Immediately, one is compelled to note the compositional strategy. Moll uses distinct blocks of color: the dark greens in the background giving way to yellow midground then pink foreground. The layering directs our eyes from top to bottom in a series of planes and hues, almost creating a perspectival pull even without the formal requirements for geometric recession. Observe the brushstrokes as well. How would you characterize the brushwork and impasto? Editor: It feels very free, not too concerned with detail. Each color almost stands alone in its own blob of paint, but when you step back it blends together. Are those juxtapositions intentional to reflect the subjective reality of Impressionism? Curator: Precisely. The visible brushstrokes serve not to describe the physical world perfectly, but rather to highlight the medium itself. This calls attention to painting as a construction, as an arrangement of forms rather than a window onto reality. The semiotic function of representation is secondary to the structural components, to its mere arrangement of pictorial devices. Editor: So you are saying it's less about the girl and the flowers and more about how the shapes and colors come together? Curator: The figure and landscape are mere motifs, pretexts for the real subject: the manipulation of paint and color. Consider how the figure mirrors the curves of the hills, nearly dissolving in the field, furthering that point. The arrangement of planes within the composition produces the image itself. The viewer experiences a reality built of layers—both paint and depth. Editor: I never considered looking at a painting in such an abstract way. Thanks, this has made me reconsider the painting technique as an art form in and of itself! Curator: A painting can indeed express its intention via form, and technique!