Mother and Child (Mutter und Kind) c. 1920

Curator: Here we have Otto Mueller’s "Mother and Child," a compelling woodcut likely created around 1920. Editor: Oh, instantly striking. There's something haunting about the mother's eyes, they’re closed yet the weight of care seems to be etched around them. A certain weariness or surrender, maybe? It feels almost like a silent scream rendered in black and white. Curator: Absolutely. This print beautifully exemplifies the German Expressionist movement's penchant for raw emotion. Note the stark lines and bold contrast typical of woodcut, chosen by Mueller to evoke such emotional intensity. The figures emerge from and merge into the dark, undefined background. It has to be a considered use of primal image and memory, linking Madonna iconography to the new visual vocabulary of modern angst. Editor: It's interesting you mention the Madonna. The pose is reminiscent, isn’t it? But emptied of all celestial joy! More of earthly burden. There's a discomfort in how the figures are presented, especially the angularity, that feels far removed from Renaissance ideals of motherhood. It's intimate but remote at the same time. It makes one ponder not the sweetness but the raw sacrifice. Curator: And indeed the sacrifice inherent in motherhood, not as a social construct but as lived bodily experience, can be seen in other expressionists, especially Paula Modersohn-Becker. Mueller strips the idealized version, revealing what perhaps the "Madonna" figure represents—the source, origin and the mystery of being born. I'm fascinated by how art echoes those ancient myths and how we now interpret them through the filter of modernity. Editor: Absolutely. These artists grapple with primal narratives of humanity with such directness. They really knew how to harness raw emotion, making me think not of the ethereal, but the profound experience of having a body, a human experience distilled in its starkest form, that speaks volumes across the centuries. Curator: It’s a powerful distillation. Thanks to Mueller, we can pause, and remember to connect with that essence ourselves. Editor: A beautiful reminder that even in darkness, there's raw and authentic life, in all its uncomfortable and vulnerable forms.