Die Katze des Propheten (The Cat of the Prophet) 1919

Lovis Corinth made this tiny etching, "The Cat of the Prophet," and it's all about the scratchy, scribbly lines. Look at the way he's built up the darks, it’s like he’s wrestling with the image, figuring it out as he goes. The physicality of the medium is so apparent here: you can almost feel the pressure of the needle on the plate. Take the prophet’s hat. See how the lines curve and cross, suggesting both form and shadow? There’s a real energy in that little patch of marks, as if the hat itself is alive. It makes me think of other artists who were working with a similar kind of raw intensity, like Käthe Kollwitz. But Corinth has his own thing going on, a kind of restless searching that keeps you looking. Art isn't about answers, it's more like a conversation that keeps going.