Tänzerin (maschka, Tanzend) 1903

Otto Mueller’s “Tänzerin (maschka, Tanzend)” is a painting of a dancer made with distemper on canvas. The colour palette is reduced, almost muted, and the composition seems to emerge from a process of slow refinement. The texture of the surface is dry and chalky, which gives the painting a certain flatness. It feels like the antithesis of oil paint, more akin to fresco maybe. It's got this kind of fresco effect that adds to the overall feeling of lightness and ethereality. In the dancer’s skirt, we can see how Mueller builds up layers of pigment, moving from light to dark, adding depth and volume to the composition. There’s a certain quality to the way the figure is rendered that reminds me of Matisse, and a common interest in the expressive possibilities of line and colour, and a shared belief in the power of art to uplift and inspire. It’s a painting that invites us to slow down, to look closely, and to embrace the ambiguity and mystery that lies at the heart of all great art.