Sitzende Zigeunerin 1926

Otto Mueller made this painting of a seated Roma woman without a title, probably around the 1920s, using distemper on canvas. The colours feel muted, almost as if the canvas has been washed out by the sun, or perhaps it is a trick of the light. What really grabs me are the gestural brushstrokes. There's something so honest about how the artist built up the image. Look at the texture in the background - see the long, deliberate strokes of green. And then notice the way the woman's figure is almost emerging from it, like she has been there for a long time. The white paint of her dress looks thin and chalky. The artist seems to be saying that she is simply part of the natural world. The way her dark hair and complexion blends into the background makes me think about the artist's process, his struggle to give form to his inner vision. I can't help but think of Paula Modersohn-Becker. She captured a similar spirit in her paintings, that same earthy, grounded feeling.