Three figures are at the center of this work, while the human being in general is at the center of Miriam Cahn's artistic work. The fragility of the human body, but also the relationship with nature. She combines observations of the present, family memories and her own experiences with socio-political events. Love, violence, womanhood, gender, sexuality, war, anti-Semitism and migration are recurring themes in her work. Born the daughter of a Jewish numismatist and art dealer in Basel in 1949, Cahn attended the Arts and Crafts School in Basel from 1968, received a scholarship to study in Paris in 1978/79 and was invited to documenta 7 in 1982 and to the Venice Biennale in 1984. An illegal nocturnal art action in the winter of 1979/80, in which she applied charcoal drawings to a Basel highway bridge, also earned her widespread media attention. Miriam Cahn's multifaceted oeuvre is not limited to figurative painting, but also includes writing, photography, film, sculpture, installations and performances. What these expressions have in common is the uncompromising confrontation of the viewer with the contradictions of our world. In "liebenmüssen, 2008 + 20.8.19.", Cahn addresses being a woman and a mother. Although the three bodies are clearly outlined, they seem to merge with their surroundings. The colors of the mother's body seem to fade into the background, just as many women see their own self fade in their role as mothers. The title is just as complex, making the role of the woman as mother and motherly love appear ambivalent. The choice of colors between light pastels and darker grays emphasizes her figures' utter tenderness and helplessness. Cahn executes her oil paintings quickly, with thin paint, while she can maintain body tension, thus avoiding traditional mastery and any possibility of correction. Immediacy also plays a major role in the creation process. The artist deconstructs the social role model of the woman, and challenges the observer, who ultimately also begin to reflect on their own identity, their (female) body and their own sexuality. [AW]