Frauenkopf 1929

Max Bill made "Frauenkopf," or "Woman’s Head" probably in the mid twentieth century using some kind of white medium on a wooden ground. The piece has a real sense of being made. I find the rawness so refreshing. The wood grain is a real presence, almost fighting with the sketched white lines of the figure. It looks like the white outlines were sketched intuitively, maybe with chalk or wax crayon. I’m drawn to the economy of the lines that describe the hands clasped by her breast. You can sense how the shapes were arrived at, like you’re inside his process. It reminds me of some of Picasso’s simplified linear figures from the 1920’s. But there's also something so unique about this. The way the wood grain becomes a kind of atmosphere, a world in which the figure exists. It’s like Max Bill is showing us not just a woman, but the very act of seeing itself. It’s a real reminder that art is an ongoing experiment, not a fixed idea.