Two Witches Fighting 1894 - 1909

Curator: Well, here we have Oluf Hartmann's "Two Witches Fighting," thought to be created sometime between 1894 and 1909. It's oil on canvas, residing here at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. What's your initial reaction? Editor: It feels... charged. Raw energy, a chaotic dance rendered in a murky palette. Almost claustrophobic, wouldn't you say? Like peering into some forgotten nightmare. Curator: Absolutely. The thick impasto and murky colors contribute to that sense of unease. Hartmann doesn't give us neat lines or pretty landscapes; instead, we get visceral strokes that suggest conflict and suppressed emotion. Editor: I see a push and pull between abstraction and figuration. The figures emerge, dissolve, then re-emerge from this maelstrom of paint. It makes me think about the Symbolist movement and its interest in the inner world, dreams, and the darker aspects of human nature. Is this considered to be expressionistic, as well? Curator: Good eye. Although Hartmann worked during a period heavily influenced by Symbolism, elements within "Two Witches Fighting" certainly lean towards Expressionism as well. There's a clear distortion of form for emotional effect, that's quite the key characteristic there. We are dealing with not a simple representational scene, but a visceral depiction of internal turmoil. The raw application of paint definitely amplifies the unease! Editor: Hartmann’s choice to portray two female figures engaged in conflict raises some interesting questions. Are these figures meant to be literal witches, or are they perhaps metaphors for the artist’s internal struggles or societal tensions? Maybe he had a bad romance? Curator: Perhaps a little of both. It is suggestive and highly subjective. I find that what Hartmann provides here is more an emotional landscape than a literal scene; but his unique take here just makes the experience all the richer. Editor: It makes me want to turn away, and yet I can’t. Curator: Exactly. The painting stays with you. Its roughness and directness give it an immediacy that transcends its age. It doesn't soothe; it challenges and provokes.