Sitzende, von Blattwerk umgeben 1923

Otto Mueller made "Sitzende, von Blattwerk umgeben" – or "Seated Woman Surrounded by Foliage" – with lithographic crayon and watercolor. There's a beautiful mix of planned mark making and chance effects in the print: the areas of color are defined by firm, confident lines, but look closer and you'll see the way the lithographic crayon has a crumbly texture in places. The colors here are muted; a yellow nude set against green and black foliage. I love the way the whole image teeters on the edge of representation. It’s there, and then it isn’t. The color runs right to the edge of the composition. See how the woman's left leg melds into the leafy background? The leg acts as both a figurative form and an abstract mark. You could compare the rendering of the natural world to that of Emil Nolde, another Expressionist, but where Nolde goes for bold, fauvist color, Mueller is much more restrained, more ambiguous. And that's what keeps me looking, the ambiguity!