Dem Weltkrieg gewidmet! c. 1923

Karl Wiener created this expressionist painting, Dem Weltkrieg gewidmet!, meaning "Dedicated to the World War!", using gouache on paper. It’s a skull alright, but not like any skull you’ve seen before, right? The face is composed of blues and greens, offset by yellowed teeth. Then there are these trails of red coming down as if the skull is crying blood. I wonder if the artist was trying to think through his own feelings by making a face that isn't necessarily a portrait but more of an embodiment of grief. When I look at it I think maybe the artist was just in his studio pushing the paint around trying to figure something out. It’s a kind of openness that allows anyone to jump in and bring their own emotions to it. I feel like Wiener might be in conversation with other expressionist painters like Edvard Munch, Paula Modersohn-Becker, and Max Beckmann. Artists are always looking at each other's work, dead or alive, consciously or unconsciously. I love that painting can be this continuous, ongoing conversation that makes space for new voices and perspectives.