Kreuzigung (Crucifixion) 1922

This is Fritz Eduard Pauli’s 'Crucifixion', made with etching, aquatint and drypoint. Imagine Pauli bent over the plate, his face close as he scratched into the metal. He must have been thinking a lot about the history of printmaking and the kinds of marks that it can make. Look at the range of grays he's achieved, and all those lines going in different directions. It’s wild! He probably started with an idea of the scene, but then it took on a life of its own, the acid biting into the metal, creating textures he couldn't have predicted. I see a lot of Goya in Pauli's approach here, with the figures emerging from the darkness, all caught in this moment of intense emotion and drama. There's something about the way the bodies twist and turn that feels very Expressionist to me, like he's trying to capture the raw feeling of the scene. It’s like artists are always having this conversation across time, picking up where someone else left off and adding their own voice to the mix.