Wüster Traum c. 1928

Karl Wiener’s *Wüster Traum* is an explosion of color and form, seemingly born from the depths of the subconscious. Look at those pastel strokes layered upon each other, a frenzied dance of marks that coalesce into figures and symbols. I can only imagine Wiener, driven by some inner turmoil, attacking the surface with feverish intensity. What a mind, wrestling with demons and desires, channeling them through color and line. Notice how the figures emerge from the chaos, as if struggling to break free from the swirling vortex of emotion. The texture is rough, raw, mirroring the artist’s state of mind. There’s a kinship here with artists like Kirchner and Heckel, those guys in Germany who bared their souls on canvas with such unflinching honesty. They saw art as a means of confronting the darkness within, and turning it into something visceral and alive. It's like they were all exchanging notes on how to make the invisible visible.