Klee’s humorous depiction of an old man counting on his fingers is an excellent example of what a relatively deeply etched line looks like. The roughness of the line is directly related to the way the acid bites down into the metal plate and eventually out into the edges. When the plate is inked and wiped, the lines hold the ink in an irregularly bitten channel which prints as a slightly wavering line, adding to the overall effect of mental activity. The figure is recognisable as an old man from his bald head and toothless mouth, while the extra lines around the man’s hands indicate the movement of his fingers as he counts.

Now the arstyle in modern times many tend not to like.

Realism people love throughout time, but hyper stylised traditions can be controversial, personally I love them much more.

Some see the beauty in the more abstract sense, some don’t. You do you.

You may need a bit more understanding of the artistic movement to get the sense of what feels right within its ‘rules’.

If you look at this abstractly what dk you see?

For me: (and this is individual analysis so take it with a grain of salt)

• the composition has a rhythmic feel to it, the lines and geometry feel musical, even his ear looks like a musical note. And it looks like its drawn on some sort of music sheet. Its just beautiful in that way. it might feel child-like to some, common criticism.

• the man also looks like an image from some sort of mathematical drawing, I’m not sure how to precisely explain it, but as if he were a blueprint. This was immediately clear to me yet I can’t explain why. I’m sure theres a good reason which I can’t currently see. Maybe the word calculating had to do with it, it does look like an image of the blueprint of some sort of gear based tech in my mind. The abstract style itself turns people into lines and shapes and geometric forms. Its mathematical itself.

• in the movements language, action can be implicit in busy spaces as is the case with his hands.

• he also looks like (and is titled for extra help) the calculating old man. So what’s he thinking about?

• maybe its about thought being mechanical? Maybe its about human though vs the automation of the era. Maybe hes scheming and wants mechanisation. Its a parallel bw the two in some way to me. Which interpretation I like varies. A case can be made for any.

• and what do we know about the time, era and place? About the Bauhaus movement.

• I like how geometry is turned playful. The painting is funny looking.

• does well woth the economy of space. With spacial clarity.

• imo it is very harmonious. It has internal coherence to its own logic.

I’m sorry this is as clear as I can explain an individual abstract piece.

If you know an artist or the movement you understand things implicitly.