Stehender Weiblicher Akt Zwischen Bäumen 1925

Otto Mueller made this chalk and tempera work, *Stehender Weiblicher Akt Zwischen Bäumen*, meaning ‘Standing Female Nude Between Trees’, with a restrained but sensual palette. I imagine him outside, squinting, trying to capture the light filtering through the trees. It is an immediate response to the subject, the marks made quickly, the image resolving itself in layers. See how the tones change? Brown, and a little black for the trees; and then the woman, bathed in that very particular shade of light. The medium allows Mueller to create a textured surface with subtle gradations in color. It’s not blended. You can still see each stroke of chalk that is laid down, as if the painting is breathing. There’s something poignant in her gesture: both relaxed and a bit melancholic, like she’s thinking about something sad in the landscape. It reminds me of other painters of the time, wrestling with similar ideas about form, nature and the body. Art making is a constant exchange! We're all just talking to each other, trying to figure out what it means to be here, in paint.