Zwei Badende Mädchen (mädchen Im Hemd) 1925

Otto Mueller made "Zwei Badende Mädchen" with oil on canvas, showing two girls bathing. I imagine he worked with thin layers of paint, letting the surface of the canvas peek through to give it a sort of translucent, matte effect. It’s fascinating to see how he balances the figures within the landscape, merging their forms with the trees and foliage. The color palette is muted, mostly greens and ochres, which gives the painting a dreamy, tranquil vibe. Look at the way he’s painted the figure standing in a white shift, you can almost feel her cautiousness and her quiet observation of the space around her. The flatness of the picture plane reminds me of other German Expressionist painters like Kirchner or Heckel. But Mueller is doing his own thing, creating a world that feels intimate, mysterious, and a little bit melancholic. This is like a private moment caught in paint, where the act of seeing is as important as what we see.