Fünf Akte Am Wasser 1911

Otto Mueller painted "Fünf Akte Am Wasser" with oil on canvas and what comes across right away is its muted palette and almost fresco-like surface. You can imagine Mueller in his studio, maybe a little restless, circling the canvas, adding a line here, a wash of colour there. I get the feeling he was after something elemental, like those figures have always been there. See how the paint is thin, almost like a stain? That lets the figures emerge subtly from the ground. I love the green strokes around their feet, suggesting the cool grass near the water. It’s like he's trying to find a kind of primal innocence, a return to nature. There's something so tender and awkward about those bodies, right? Like Mueller is more interested in the feeling of skin, the weight of a limb, than perfect anatomical detail. It reminds me a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker. It is that the art of painting is about the ongoing back-and-forth between artists across time, inspiring each other toward new modes of expression and awareness.