Geranium in Night Window 1922

Karl Knaths made "Geranium in Night Window" with oil on canvas. What strikes me is the way he builds form with these almost chunky, geometric marks. It’s like he’s piecing together a puzzle, but the pieces are colors and brushstrokes. There’s a tactile quality here, a real sense of the paint on the surface. Look at that geranium pot, how the red is built up in layers, almost like plaster. It’s not just about depicting a pot; it’s about the physicality of paint, the act of applying it, scraping it, letting it sit. And then, those window panes dissolving into the night, rendered with such juicy blues and greens. He's not afraid to let the colors bleed and mingle. This reminds me of Marsden Hartley, another American modernist who wasn’t afraid to get a little rough around the edges, embracing process over perfect representation. For Knaths, it's not just about seeing, but about feeling, about how the world hits your senses and how you translate that into something new.