Weiße Rosen II c. 1925

Carl Moll made this painting, called 'White Roses II', with oils, probably alla prima, which is wet on wet, meaning he finished it in one sitting. I can feel him there in front of the canvas, mixing those off-whites and greens, trying to capture the fleeting essence of those roses. You can see the marks of his brush, thick and juicy in places, creating a tangible surface, and the light, oh, the light filtering through the petals! It's like he's not just painting roses, but painting light itself. There’s one dab of paint in particular, right at the heart of the central rose, it feels like a concentrated burst of energy, capturing the fleeting beauty of nature. Moll’s work always feels like a conversation with other painters, like Manet, maybe, or Fantin-Latour. Painting is this ongoing exchange of ideas, each artist building on what came before, translating the world into their own visual language. And even now, his roses are whispering secrets to us, inviting us to slow down and savor the beauty in the everyday.