Häuser im Schwarzwald 

Curator: This watercolor, titled "Häuser im Schwarzwald", presents a charming landscape by Johannes Itten, known for his exploration of color theory and its psychological effects. Editor: Immediately striking is how simplified and blocky the rendering is; almost childlike in its directness, despite the fairly clear articulation of forms like buildings, trees, and fields. I can almost smell the cool forest air just by looking at the watercolor materials. Curator: Itten's composition reveals a flattening of perspective typical of Expressionism. The buildings, rendered in hues of pink, blue, and red, cascade down the hillside in an almost whimsical manner. There is certainly a link to ideas regarding folk art that many artists had in that era, like the group Der Blaue Reiter, also invested in primitivism. Editor: It does have that charming quality we associate with "naive art." But if we look closer at the visible brushstrokes, there is so much skill here, using very economical brushstrokes for the details and geometry of each form to create depth and atmosphere. Think of the work hours it required just for that… Curator: You bring up labor and production. Itten was affiliated with the Bauhaus, which, especially in its later years, placed emphasis on connecting art with crafts. However, his intense preoccupation with color and geometric forms should be also regarded with some scrutiny, and within its spiritual dimension. Let’s not forget that Itten was devoted to Mazdaznan's teachings. This belief system affected Itten’s relationship to food, sex, and art… Editor: I’d still rather focus on how he achieved a certain textural contrast… The materiality itself – paper, pigment, water – conveys much. Note how thin layers create depth versus dense pigment applications elsewhere! These technical things always matter. Curator: Precisely; we both can see the many layers of historical contexts shaping the work's emotional intensity and physical properties. Editor: True; I’ll need to find a way to emulate these washes and linear structures with a bit more technical consideration in my own watercolor experiments.