Nude Figure 

Otto Mueller made this drawing of a ‘Nude Figure’ using pastel on paper. These materials are modest, yet capable of great subtlety. Look at the image. The pastel lines create a sense of volume and depth, while also leaving room for suggestion, rather than highly finished detail. The colours are muted – earth tones predominating – and applied with a directness that emphasizes the artist’s hand. Mueller wasn’t trying to create an illusionistic representation of the figure. The nude adopts a classical pose, and the loose application of the pastel allows the grainy texture of the paper to show through, giving the work an immediacy that feels very modern. This kind of drawing could be seen as a preparatory sketch for a larger painting, but it also stands alone as a work of art, in which the processes of making are laid bare for the viewer to appreciate. It invites us to value artistic practices that are less about grand statements and more about intimacy and direct expression.