Mother and Child (Mutter und Kind) 1913

Emil Nolde made this image, Mother and Child, with printmaking ink on paper. Just look at those velvety blues and greens, and then that contrasting burst of cadmium yellow light overhead! Imagine Nolde in the act of creation, maybe hunched over a table, deeply engrossed in the task of translating an inner vision into a tangible form. I can almost see him wrestling with the materials, coaxing the ink to yield the desired texture and depth. That bold, almost crude line that defines the mother's form is so full of feeling, so raw. It's like he's trying to capture the essence of motherhood itself. When I look at this I can almost see other artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz and Edvard Munch who have all brought their own distinct perspectives to the subject. Artists are always in conversation with each other across time, each one building upon and responding to the ideas of those who came before. Nolde, with his expressive mark-making, really invites us to engage with the painting on a visceral level, to feel the emotions embedded within each stroke.