Figur in Landschaft 1930

Adolf Hölzel made this gorgeous color pastel drawing titled Figur in Landschaft. The marks are so direct, the colors laid down with an improvisational urgency. Look closely, and you’ll notice how Hölzel doesn't blend the colors smoothly; instead, he lets each stroke remain distinct. The texture is chalky, immediate. Those blues, reds, greens – they seem to vibrate against one another, creating a kind of optical buzz. See that bold red stroke cutting across the middle? It’s so decisive, so unapologetic. It doesn’t try to blend in; it asserts itself, disrupting the surface and creating a sense of depth and movement. You might see a landscape or a figure, but really it's about the push and pull between those blocks of colour. It reminds me a little of Arthur Dove, someone else who wasn't afraid to just lay it all down. It's a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation, a dance of ideas across generations.