Raven on birch tree 1920

Jan Mankes made this drawing of a raven on a birch tree, but when? And how did the work come into being? Perhaps Mankes began by laying down a thin wash of ink, almost like a watercolor, letting it pool and flow across the paper, and then adding more controlled lines and shapes on top. I imagine Mankes pausing, maybe squinting at the subject, trying to capture the essence of that solitary bird. You can almost feel the texture of the bird’s feathers, through the lines and the weight of the dark ink. I wonder what was on his mind as he painted. The upward motion of the raven feels so urgent, in contrast to the stillness of the landscape. The artist is saying something about seeing, feeling, and being in the world, and how that might shift our perspective. It reminds me of the work of other painters, like Odilon Redon, who explore the inner worlds of dreams and imagination, and how artists are always inspiring one another.