Deformation II c. 1921

Karl Wiener made this watercolor painting, "Deformation II," at some point in the first half of the twentieth century. Its jumble of abstract geometric and organic forms suggests the influence of movements like Cubism and Fauvism that challenged traditional artistic conventions. Wiener lived through a period of massive social upheaval in Europe, and his art reflects the spirit of experimentation and questioning that defined the era. What does it mean to create "deformations" rather than accurate representations? In the wake of total war, artists turned to abstraction in an attempt to capture the fragmented and chaotic nature of modern experience. But there is something playful in Wiener’s deformations, too: what if the serious work of institutions is to encourage the playful deformation of the status quo? Art history helps us understand the social contexts that shaped the work of artists like Wiener, using archives, periodicals, and other resources to understand the conversations that defined their historical moment.