The Pleading Woman 1914

Oskar Kokoschka made this print called The Pleading Woman using lithography. It’s all sepia and shades of brown. I imagine him daubing at the stone, coaxing the image to the surface, not quite sure what it will become until it reveals itself. Looking at this woman, I get a sense of raw emotion, of being trapped. Her hands are raised in supplication, but there’s a grid, like a cage, behind them. Maybe Kokoschka was thinking about the ways we’re all held captive by our fears, by society, or even by our own bodies. The texture is so rough; you can almost feel the grit of the lithographic stone. It reminds me of other expressionists, like Munch or Kathe Kollwitz, all trying to capture the intense feelings of being alive. It is a dark vision. Artists are always in dialogue, riffing off each other, and borrowing ideas across time.