Naturstudie XIX 1924

Karl Wiener made this Naturstudie XIX sometime between 1901 and 1949 with colored pencils. I love how this is a study of nature, and yet it’s so clearly about mark-making itself. Look at the way Wiener uses these tiny, almost frantic marks to build up the dark mass of the cloud, and then contrasts that with the open, airy blue of the sky. It’s like he’s using the simplest tools to capture something vast and complex. There’s a real physicality to the work. You can almost feel the pressure of the pencil on the paper, the way he’s layering color upon color to create depth and texture. There’s a tension in this image. Is it a foreboding storm or just a passing cloud? Wiener’s mark-making leaves the question open, allowing for multiple interpretations. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin’s subtle use of line and color to evoke a sense of mood. Ultimately, it celebrates art as an ongoing investigation.