Zwei sitzende Mädchen II 1921 - 1922

This print of two seated girls was made by Otto Mueller, though it's hard to know exactly when. I imagine him, sleeves rolled up, leaning over a block of wood or lino, carving out these figures with focused energy. There's a real sense of weight and physicality here, right? Look at the thickness of the black ink that defines the contours of the girls' bodies, and the heavy, inky atmosphere which surrounds them. You can almost feel the pressure of the artist's hand as he pressed the block onto the paper. And what about those heads leaning together? Are they friends, sisters, lovers? Mueller was part of a group of German Expressionist artists called Die Brücke, or the Bridge. And when I look at this print, I imagine the conversations they must have had, the ideas they shared, and the ways they pushed each other to see the world in new and unexpected ways. That's what art is all about, isn't it? A conversation that spans time and space, linking us to each other, and to the artists who came before us.