Emil Nolde

Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, German Expressionist Graphics, August - October 1988

Schiefler L 52

In Junges Paar, Expressionist pioneer Emil Nolde investigates the underlying frictions between sexes. Executed in 1913, the work depicts a young couple engaged in an inflammatory confrontation: a man grips a woman’s wrist, who recoils in response. Nolde heightens the emotional disquietude of the scene by distorting the forms of the two figures. The nature of their relationship is left ambiguous as their exchange toes the line between foreboding and provocative; similarly, the composition itself is neither abstract nor fully articulated. The organic dynamism of his lines and forms in Junges Paar reflect Nolde’s commitment to excavating the primal and elemental forces of modern life throughout his prolific and acclaimed career. 

The present work stands as a testament to Nolde’s highly innovative approach to printmaking. Within the present edition, Nolde produced sixty-eight unique color variants of the same image, allowing changes in tonalities and hues to elicit wide ranging emotional interpretations of the scene at hand. Here, a muted green evokes feelings of anxiety and intrigue, enhancing Nolde’s signature technical mastery and bold draftsmanship. Art historian Tilman Osterwold captures the innovative language of Nolde's artistic output from his pre-war period: “The simplicity of the everyday is the element that really marks Nolde's sphere of experience. This includes the central, substantial question of what the visualisation of human beings actually means…The eloquence and directness of his compositions creates an inimitable intensity of pictorial and thematic refinement and conceptual intelligence” (T. Osterwold, Exh. Cat. Emil Nolde, Eye Contact, Early Portraits, Ulmer Museum, Ulm & De Zonnehof-centrum voor modern kunst, Amersfoort, 2005-06, pp. 56-57).