Burgruine c. 1943

Karl Wiener made this painting, Burgruine, with oil paint, using big, confident strokes of red, blue, and brown. You can almost see Wiener building this fortress, layering the paint, responding to each color and shape as it emerges. I feel like I’m standing right there with him, trying to figure out how to make a ruin feel so present. The red is so strong, so visceral—it's like the building is still alive, glowing from within! And then that little blue window… such a small detail, but it gives the whole painting a sense of depth and mystery. What was Wiener thinking when he added it? Wiener's work reminds me a little of Milton Avery’s simplified forms and bold color choices. These artists teach us that painting can be an ongoing dialogue across time, an exchange of ideas that keeps inspiring new ways of seeing and feeling the world. Painting embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, inviting multiple interpretations and meanings.