Spring morning 1927

Heinrich Ferdinand Werner made this drawing, Spring Morning, using pencil and pastel, and you can see it here at the Städel Museum. I can imagine him outside, squinting at the first light, and feeling the cold seeping up from the ground. He’s grabbing at the scene with a flurry of marks. Notice how the trees become scratchy lines that dissolve into the sky and the ground. It’s like he’s trying to capture the ephemerality of the morning, the way the light changes every second. He is using pastels that give the image a softness, almost a dreamlike quality. Maybe he’s thinking about other artists who’ve tried to capture the feeling of a morning. These kinds of works are part of an ongoing conversation, responding to what’s come before, and whispering ideas into the future. It’s a beautiful reminder that art is always in flux, open to interpretation, and deeply personal.