Ixion 1906

Oluf Hartmann made this small etching, Ixion, with dark, scratchy lines that feel both urgent and delicate. You can almost hear the scratching of the etching needle across the plate. Hartmann was working at the beginning of the 20th century, when artists were really pushing the limits of what painting could do. I imagine him, in his studio, wrestling with the darkness, trying to pull figures out of the shadows, trying to find a new way to depict the complexities of human form and emotion. The way the figures seem to emerge from a dense, chaotic background makes me think about the symbolist painters who wanted to reveal the unseen forces that shape our lives. It makes me wonder what he was thinking about, what he wanted to express with such raw intensity. I feel a kinship with Hartmann, a sense of shared struggle and exploration. We're all part of this ongoing conversation, riffing off each other, trying to make sense of the world through the language of painting.