Bartling’s expressive style is particularly evident in the dynamic brushwork. The painterly execution feels powerful and alive. The flowing, almost weightless background intensifies the sense of a dreamlike space, removed from everyday reality. The cropped framing of the figures draws the viewer in, giving the composition an intimate and immediate quality.

The woman in the foreground is believed to be Elisabeth Bartling and appears to seek direct eye contact with the viewer. This gaze fosters a personal connection and captures the tension between closeness and distance. The man in the background—presumably Manfred Bartling—remains a silent observer. His withdrawn position and dark, shadowy contours lend him both a protective and distanced presence. His defined facial features and distinctive beard contrast with the softer, warmly rendered features of the woman, whose figure is sensitively shaped through Bartling’s nuanced color application.