Fra grenen 1899

Carl Locher created this print, "Fra grenen," with etching. We see a stark landscape where the sky dominates, filled with swirling clouds and a flock of birds in flight. Birds, as symbols, are ancient messengers. They represent the soul’s journey. The image of birds in flight has appeared across cultures, from Egyptian hieroglyphs depicting the ba, or soul, as a bird, to Romantic paintings where birds symbolize freedom and the yearning for the infinite. Here, the flock stirs something primal within us. The mass of birds suggests the migration of souls, a powerful force that can both comfort and unsettle. We might consider the individual versus the collective, and what it means to be part of something larger than ourselves. The psychological tension arises from the awareness of life’s transient nature. The birds’ flight becomes a stark reminder of our own mortality, a theme that relentlessly resurfaces in art, echoing through time.