Young Couple (Junges Paar) 1913

Editor: This linocut print, "Young Couple," from 1913, is the work of Emil Nolde. It has such stark contrasts, it almost feels raw. They both look so detached, maybe even a little distrustful. What's your read on it? Curator: That rawness is what grabs me, too. Nolde was a master of making you *feel* an emotion through his compositions. Look at the jagged lines he uses. It's almost violent. German Expressionism sought to represent inner feeling rather than outward appearance, wouldn't you say? Editor: Definitely! That inner turmoil seems like the main point here, right? They’re not exactly gazing lovingly at each other. Is it about anxiety before the First World War maybe? Curator: Absolutely could be! Consider Nolde’s own complicated nature; some argue that his troubled inner state shows in works such as these. Does it read like a failure of connection, despite their closeness? Or the premonition of chaos coming? I see a little bit of both, and the genius is the ambiguity itself! Editor: I hadn't really considered Nolde’s personal life and how it connected to the feel of this print. It is intriguing how something that seems so straightforward can be read in many ways! Curator: And that, my friend, is the heart of art, and our experience with it: we interpret, we *feel*. I love when I leave a piece feeling provoked, questioning! It lives on.