Cart Horses 1909

Max Pechstein made this print, "Cart Horses," probably around 1909; it's just ink on paper. The way the ink sits on the page, it's almost like a memory fading in and out. You know, how you try to grasp something that's just beyond your reach? Look at the horses' heads – they're there, but also not quite. It's all about the process, isn't it? The artist feeling his way through the image. I keep coming back to the mark-making. See that dark patch above the horses? It could be trees, or just a build-up of ink, a shadow. That ambiguity is what gets me. It's like Pechstein is saying, "Here's a suggestion, now you fill in the blanks." Think about someone like Emil Nolde, he also explored these raw, emotional landscapes, trusting the process and letting the image emerge from the depths. And isn't that what art is all about?