Dancing Nude 1925

Here is a 'Dancing Nude' made by Wilhelm Oesterle, probably in his studio, sometime in the 1920s. It's rendered in thin washes of browns, greens, and pinks, with graphite lines contouring a figure in motion. I’m thinking about Oesterle making this. A brush loaded with pigment, the arm extended, marking the paper's surface. A dance between intention and accident, stroke by stroke. The color choices are interesting here; there is something earthy but also ethereal. It reminds me a little of Rodin’s drawings. That swoosh of green paint could be air, an afterimage, or pure energy. And then the scribbled lines defining muscle, tension, and release! I bet Oesterle was thinking of the German Expressionists and their interest in portraying raw, unfiltered emotion. It’s like he’s saying, ‘Here’s a body, here’s some movement, here’s the feeling.’ And then passes the brush to us.