Landschap met bloemen 1943

Arend Hendriks made this landscape with flowers sometime in the first half of the 20th century using etching. I love how the details are so intricate, it’s like a whole world captured in delicate lines. Looking closely, you can almost feel the texture of the paper, and see how the ink sits on its surface. Notice the way Hendriks uses hatching to create depth in the landscape? It’s a bit like building something up, mark by mark. My eye keeps getting drawn to the plant in the foreground, with its detailed leaves and flowers. It feels so close, so present, and then there's the city in the background. Hendriks’ work reminds me a little bit of Piranesi, that architect-turned-printmaker, with his obsessive attention to detail and his ability to create these immersive, almost fantastical spaces. And just like Piranesi, Hendriks invites us to wander into his world, to get lost in the details, and to find our own meaning in the landscape.