Walchensee mit Jochberg (Walchensee with Jochberg) 1923

Lovis Corinth made this etching, "Walchensee mit Jochberg," with ink on paper. Look at all those scratchy marks making up the mountain, trees, and sky – like a million tiny hairs standing on end. It's as if the artist was trying to capture not just what he saw, but also the nervous energy of the landscape itself. I can imagine Corinth standing there, squinting at the scene, rapidly etching away at the plate. What was he thinking, what was he feeling? Was he battling the elements, trying to tame the wildness of nature with the precision of his lines? Or was he letting himself be swept away by the sheer drama of it all? The mountains, the trees, the clouds - like a visual poem. The way he uses those lines - thick and thin, light and dark - it’s like he’s conducting an orchestra of feeling. It’s about a conversation with the world, an ongoing exploration of what it means to be alive and to make things.