Die Wildbrethändlerin 1902

Albin Egger-Lienz made 'Die Wildbrethändlerin' with oil on canvas, and it's this beautiful dark painting, full of wild game. The artist's approach to mark-making is broad and thick, the colours limited, creating a sense of form emerging out of the dark background. You get the feeling this painting wasn’t fussed over, but rather it was a direct transcription of a scene. The materiality of the painting is really interesting, especially the thick opaque paint which gives texture to the surface. You can almost feel the weight of the birds and the slippery smoothness of the fish. Looking at the way the light catches on the woman’s face, you can see the physicality of the medium, each stroke building up to create her expression, so lifelike against the stillness of her stock. This piece reminds me of work by Caravaggio with its dramatic lighting and the way figures emerge from darkness, all art is a long conversation. Ultimately, art embraces ambiguity, and that's what makes it so endlessly fascinating.