Bloemen in een kruik 1925

M.A. van Dugteren made this linocut, “Bloemen in een kruik”, which translates as “Flowers in a Jug," with what looks like a real sense of adventure! The bold black and white shapes aren’t just blocks of color, they become essential structural elements. Notice the interplay between the black and white here, and how the artist uses each to define the other. The texture, especially in the black areas, it looks like it was a joy to make. I find my eye drawn to the lower left, where the lines create an abstract, almost architectural space, which seems to contrast with the organic shapes of the vase and foliage. Maybe it’s about the tension between the man made and the natural world, but I also think that it’s just as likely the artist was just playing and seeing what shapes they could create with this limited palette. This reminds me a little of the graphic work of someone like Emil Nolde, maybe, particularly in the reduction of naturalistic forms into more symbolic ones. Ultimately, it embraces ambiguity and invites many readings.