Liebespaar 1914 - 1918

Otto Mueller made this lithograph titled Liebespaar, which translates to "Lovers," sometime before 1930, using lithographic crayon on paper. The way the crayon drags and releases across the surface reveals the tension between control and chance that’s central to artmaking. There's a beautiful vulnerability in the way Mueller deploys the medium. The image is built from a network of marks, and each mark is so confident. Look at the parallel lines that form the ground – they create a sense of depth. Then there’s the way he describes the figures themselves; just a few strokes, and yet they’re so present, so human. It reminds me of Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also sought to capture the essence of human experience with radical simplicity. Both artists show us that art doesn’t need to be complicated to be profound. It’s a reminder that meaning often resides in the most unassuming of forms.