Bad Ems 

Curator: Before us is “Bad Ems,” a cityscape rendered in pencil and ink by Anton Radl. The artwork currently resides here in the Städel Museum. Editor: It's… charmingly unfinished? There’s a lightness to it, almost ephemeral. The whole scene feels like a half-remembered dream of a mountain village. Curator: The seemingly “unfinished” nature allows us to appreciate the line work—characteristic of the realism style Radl employed. The buildings, though sketched, offer echoes of familiar European architecture. Think of spires, gables... icons of prosperity and tradition. Editor: Icons indeed! I keep coming back to that airy quality. It is though Radl is holding the architecture gently in the cradle of mountains, a tender respect for what humans build amid nature’s grandeur. It makes you wonder about the connection between our ambitions and the world around us. Curator: A fascinating observation. Notice, too, how the mountains loom—their presence perhaps symbolizes permanence and history versus the fleeting existence of the townspeople who are implied within the cityscape below. Bad Ems has been, and surely will continue to be. What persists over time? This sketch holds answers. Editor: Or maybe it's simply capturing a specific moment, the quiet interlude when humans stop struggling, to let it all sit within, a harmony. The simplicity also speaks to memory itself: distilling a place down to its most essential impressions and feelings. Like after leaving your favourite spot; a city in the heart becomes its own feeling inside you. Curator: I appreciate how your insights bridge objective observation with a subjective response. Anton Radl invites contemplation on place, memory, and continuity of culture through art. Editor: Indeed, looking closer makes the drawing vibrate with untold stories, and forgotten silences—like echoes of the place lingering even after the pencils put down for the day. Curator: Precisely. Every visual symbol provides a gateway, doesn't it, into emotional and cultural understanding. Editor: So true; Anton Radl’s rendering gives room for personal imaginings; the best places always hold a special silence for your soul.