Bamboebrug over de kali in Buitenzorg c. 1921

Willem Witsen made this print, Bamboebrug over de kali in Buitenzorg, with etching sometime in his lifetime, between 1860 and 1923. The sepia tones give it a feeling of antiquity, as if we are looking at an old photograph or a memory fading into time. The composition is so lush, almost overgrown, with a bamboo bridge stretching across the scene and figures that are embedded in the landscape. I imagine Witsen standing there, plate in hand, carefully scratching these lines to life. What was he thinking as he captured this slice of Indonesian life? How did he decide where to focus, which details to emphasize, and which to let blur into the background? Notice how the textures vary—the dense, scribbled foliage versus the more straightforward lines of the bridge. It's like he’s thinking about how we see, how our eyes dart around, focusing sharply on one thing, then drifting to another. There's something so immediate and intimate about printmaking. It’s a conversation, really, between artists across time, each leaving their mark, inspiring the next.