Kniender Akt 1916

Christian Rohlfs made this expressionist nude with loose, gestural marks and a warm color palette. It feels like the painting emerged through a process of layering, where each stroke builds on the previous one, shifting, finding form, and evolving through the act of painting. I sympathize with the artist as they might have worked on this painting, wondering about the model, perhaps thinking about the great tradition of life-drawing? The paint is thin and transparent in places, allowing the ground to peek through, while elsewhere the colors build up in dense clusters. The line that defines the model’s back has so much feeling, the slightest little tremble there makes a world of difference. Rohlfs comes from a generation of artists who were looking to find a way out of academic tradition. Painting for him, as for many of us, is a conversation across time, inspiring and building upon the ideas of those who came before. Painting allows for uncertainty, embracing the unknown.