Very much so on Otto Dix. I believe they met after the war, either at an art class or gallery, but I can’t remember or immediately find a soruce for that.

There’s a lot of Ludwig Meidner influence too, especially the colourful lanscapes with multiple or contradictory vanishing points. He was an interesting guy too - his artwork was banned by the Nazis in the 30s, some of his work burned, and he fled before the holocaust started in earnest but his work from then and later is haunted by it.

I used to work in Leeds and some of the buildings from the mid-late 1800s are still there. Sadly it’s mostly banks and finance offices now. There are still churches at both ends, but they’re hidden by bigger buildings and aren’t quite straight on down the street like this.

This isn’t related to the paiting, but I believe it was also the first street in Britain to have a traffic light.

I love this, probably because I’m a sucker for that kind of abstract to detailed shift too.

I love this one. I also really like the scale, layering, and light of “Open Landscape” even though it has a very different vibe.

Because honestly very very few online communities are like this one. This community has given each other hours and hours of entertainment, support, and knowledge far beyond anything I’ve seen before.

I’ve been here for three years and I’ve seen people get jobs because of training resources and answers provided by other users. People who were ‘leftish’ but didn’t have library or academic access who were given links to free courses, books, and basically a whole leftist education they couldn’t have gotten otherwise. People have started reading groups for learning more and discussion. Gaming and movie watching groups for people who are isolated or just want to hang out digitally with comrades.

People have helped organise for various good causes and trans comrades have been given advice and help to find the medical supplies they need when living in places it would otherwise be impossible. The mutual aid that’s happened here has gotten people off the streets, helped unhoused people, paid for meals people otherwise would have had to skip, and kept people’s electricity on until payday.

I’m lucky enough not to have needed any of those things, but someone still sent me codes for a couple of video games I was curious about just because I mentioned I was stressed out one month and looking for something new to play. I could have bought them myself, but was a lovely gesture so I thanked them and threw the same amount I would have spent towards mutual aid.

Yeah, there’s a whole lot of shit posting, some struggle sessions, and occasional assholery too. But there’s a reason so many people are so active here on Hexbear. It’s special.

So talk shit, defederate, or maybe approach in good faith without your presumptions. Whatever you choose, we’ll be just fine.