Lovers Embracing c. 1911

Oto Gutfreund made this drawing with brush and ink, and it's all about the gesture. See how the brushstrokes stand in for bodies, for the act of holding close? It’s like the image came together through sheer force of feeling, the artist almost possessed as he makes his mark. I get the sense he was wrestling with how to show closeness, how to find a visual equivalent for the electric charge between two people. I can imagine Gutfreund, lost in the process, maybe thinking about Rodin, maybe about the formal innovations of cubism. The limited palette emphasizes how the embrace emerges from the contrast between light and shadow, from the simple act of putting ink on paper. This piece resonates with Gutfreund’s wider practice and with the work of other artists who seek to represent the human form, the body, in relation. Artists are always in dialogue, looking to the past, experimenting in the present, and inspiring future generations. And that’s the beautiful thing about paintings, isn't it? They’re never really finished.