The Acrobat 1921

Conrad Felixmüller made this etching, The Acrobat, at some point in his career, and I love how he’s scratched and needled the plate to create this whole world with just a few lines. Look at the way the marks swarm to create these figures – the performer in the foreground, all curves and confidence, and the leaping acrobat behind her. The etched line is like a fingerprint, unique to each artist, and here, Felixmüller uses it to suggest form and movement, weight and tension. It’s pretty amazing how a simple line can hold so much information, right? I’m drawn to the flat plane behind the acrobat, a stark contrast to the swarming lines that define the figures. It’s like Felixmüller is reminding us that this is all just an illusion, a trick of the eye and the hand. There's something about the way this reminds me of Kirchner's prints, and it speaks to how artists are always in conversation, borrowing and riffing off of each other's ideas.