Kasperltheater 1910

Hans Kalmsteiner made this small drawing, Kasperltheater, we don't know exactly when, on a piece of paper. It looks like it was made with colored pencils or crayons, maybe even printed. I'm immediately drawn to the way he divides the scene into six little acts or boxes, each framed by a playful blue zig-zag pattern. He's showing us a little puppet show. I love the flat, graphic quality, like simple woodcuts or naive illustrations in a children’s book. I wonder if Kalmsteiner felt like a puppet master himself, arranging these miniature dramas. Look at the figure about to whack the rabbit, or another clown swinging a hammer down onto a prostrate figure! There is so much action here. It all feels so raw, you know? Like the artist is just laying it all out there, with no pretense. It reminds me a bit of some of the early expressionists. There is a sense of urgency and a desire to capture something primal. We're all just trying to figure things out, one mark at a time.