Bathers 1918

Hans Purrmann made this etching titled 'Bathers' with a dark and somewhat scratchy line on a plate, which was then transferred to paper. I can almost feel him there in the studio, reworking this scene over and over. I bet he paused, squinted, and scratched out a tree, a boat, a figure, and then another. The scratches almost seem to describe the figures and landscape as they appear and disappear in the mist. Maybe Purrmann was thinking about how Cézanne built up his compositions, with many layers and shifting perspectives, or maybe it was a Degas. Look at the way the line dances across the surface, sometimes thick and bold, sometimes thin and wispy. There is a real sense of movement here, of bodies shifting and changing. It is an intimate gesture, like he's sharing a secret with us, inviting us to join him in his private world. He’s letting us see the process.