Untitled 

Editor: We are looking at an untitled etching by Wols. I am immediately drawn to the sense of fragility in the lines. It feels like a cityscape about to dissolve. What historical perspectives can you share that might deepen our understanding? Curator: Well, considering the historical context is key here. Wols, though difficult to pin down, operated in a post-war world grappling with meaning and representation. This dissolving cityscape echoes the physical and psychic damage of those times. Does that make you rethink the mood at all? Editor: It does. That fragility now speaks more of the precariousness of rebuilding, not just physically but socially and politically too. So, his style reflected the mood of a broken society. Curator: Precisely. Abstract Expressionism itself arose from artists searching for new ways to express a world seemingly devoid of order and sense. And etching, as a medium, allows for an intimate, almost vulnerable mark-making process, appropriate here. Think about the act of producing multiple impressions as mirroring how trauma is replicated in social and political structures. Editor: That makes me consider how accessible art was or was not during that time and who would be most able to interpret this etching. Do you think art critics understood what Wols was trying to portray? Curator: Critical reception to abstract work like Wols’ was definitely mixed! The public role of art, even the *idea* of its public role, was highly debated. Whether it could, or should, address societal anxieties head-on was the point of contention. Editor: I see what you mean. Looking at the “dissolving cityscape” again, it seems to visually argue for how that debate could not be ignored. Curator: Exactly. By refusing traditional representation, Wols confronted the establishment's very assumptions about the role and meaning of art in society. Editor: I had considered the piece aesthetically, but you've provided a new lens. Now, it provokes questions about societal functions of art in times of disruption. Curator: And hopefully you'll continue to ask those questions of everything that you see moving forward!