Dance Around the Golden Calf c.1910 / Emil Nolde
For my next effort mood in art, I have chosen “Dance around the Golden Calf,” by the German Expressionist painter, Emil Nolde. In contrast to the dull colors, hard edges, and careful draftmanship of Hopper’s painting, Nolde’s painting is warm, exuberant, and loose.
The painting depicts a Biblical story in which Moses comes down the mountain from communing with God to find the Israelites worshiping a golden idol. In Nolde’s painting, the crudely painted dancers raise their arms in ecstasy or frenzy, almost gyrating off the canvas.
To me, the painting conveys a sense of rhythm and abandon, a Passionate mood. What do you think?