To kvinder slås om en mand 1906

This is ‘To kvinder slås om en mand’ made by Oluf Hartmann, sometime between 1879 and 1910. It looks like it was made using some kind of printmaking technique, probably etching. The stark monochrome grabs you right away, doesn't it? It makes you think about the history of mark-making and the labor involved in making an image, stroke by stroke. Look at how the figures seem to emerge from the background, like shadowy apparitions. I wonder, what was Hartmann thinking as he etched these lines? Was he amused by the tussle, or was he trying to tell us something deeper about desire and conflict? I keep coming back to the way the figures are so intertwined, it makes it hard to tell where one body ends and another begins. That speaks to the messiness of human relationships, doesn't it? There's a real conversation happening here, not just between Hartmann and his subject, but also between him and every artist who's ever tried to capture the human condition. It’s as if the print embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.