The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 1937

Werner Peiner created this striking image of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but the date of its making is unknown. It looks like a pretty traditional oil paint was applied in thin, controlled layers. Seeing that makes me wonder if Peiner ever let himself get lost in the pure physicality of the paint itself. The painting is so neat and tidy, with every hair on those horses perfectly placed! Look at the way the light reflects off the horses' eyes. You can almost hear them snorting. It’s so expertly done, but I find myself craving a little mess, a bit of raw emotion bleeding through. I want to see the artist's hand, the struggle and the joy of pushing paint around. It has echoes of Dürer's woodcut of the same subject, but where Dürer's work has a raw, visceral energy, Peiner's feels strangely removed. Still, it's a powerful image, a reminder that art can be both technically impressive and deeply unsettling.