Birds

Image Interpretation

Two powerful avian figures fill the entire space—not as lifelike depictions, but as archaic archetypes, as if someone had rendered the very idea of a bird visible. Their bodies merge with blossoms, tendrils, and ornamental lines into a single organic world where animal and plant, interior and exterior, are no longer separate categories. The warm golden ochre of the left bird and the cool emerald green of the right exist in a vibrant dialogue—two principles that are mutually dependent. Between and around them teems a host of delicate line drawings: small figures, fish, vessels, other birds—as if the grand composition contained an entire world in miniature. At the left edge of the image, a third, darker bird enters the frame, more modest and observant—a silent witness to the events. This visual language, in which living beings become ornaments and ornaments become living beings, bears clear traces of Art Nouveau, to which Ri Meuser von Eschmar remained connected throughout her life, combined with influences from archaic art that she experienced firsthand through study trips and participation in archaeological excavations—including at Etruscan burial sites.

Technique: Mono Sgraffito

What appears at first glance to be a spontaneous, vibrant drawing is the result of a multi-stage layering process. In mono sgraffito, Ri Meuser von Eschmar applies high-quality color pigments to an ultra-thin film in several passes—in this case, the rich green, the warm ochre, and the silvery-white highlights. Individual layers are selectively uncovered, while others are repainted and glazed, up to 16 times. The delicate line drawings of the figures and ornaments—as light as if they had been created in the same breath—are incised into these pigment layers or applied over them, combining the painterly depth of the background with the graphic freedom of the contour. This exact interplay between glazing depth and spontaneous line is unique to mono sgraffito and cannot be achieved with any other technique.

The Artist

Prof. Ri Meuser von Eschmar, born in Darmstadt, studied stage design in Darmstadt and painting in Aachen. Her visual world combines fairy-tale imagination with deep roots in art history—from Art Nouveau and archaic art to Etruscan design language. As a freelance artist with a studio near Bonn, she developed mono sgraffito, a completely independent technique based on industrial films, petrochemical pigments, and gold dust. Study trips to almost every continent as well as over 350 solo exhibitions worldwide—from the Harrods Gallery in London to the Galleria del Arte in Florence—make her one of the most significant German artists of the 20th century. Her awards include the Rubens Medal and the Golden Oscar (France).