Wofür c. 1941

Karl Wiener made "Wofür," with ink, and who knows what else? But what grabs me is the scratchy, urgent energy he brings to every single line. The man is standing on some hummock, with his hands up as if in supplication, but the whole image is activated by radiating, brutal lines. There’s a real tension between the angular, almost architectural lines and the figure's very human gesture, like he’s being beamed up! Or is he surrendering? Wiener really commits to this contrast, especially if you look closely at the way he renders the ground. The lines here feel almost topographic, mapping an emotional landscape as much as a physical one. This is not unlike the way some German Expressionists used woodcut. A piece by Schmidt-Rottluff comes to mind. Art, like life, is about living in the question.