Twee zagende mannen in een werkplaats in Verona Possibly 1911 - 1915

Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp made this etching, 'Two Sawing Men in a Workshop in Verona,' with ink on paper. It's a scene, caught, like a memory. The whole thing is kind of mesmerizing with this meticulous detail. There's so much to look at - the way the light hits the timber of the workshop, the figures in the background, the grain of the paper itself. It's all these tiny lines that make up the whole thing. Look at the brickwork, so precise, so deliberate. It's like the artist is trying to capture every little detail of the scene, to hold on to it, to make it last. It reminds me a little of Piranesi, that same obsession with detail, that same sense of melancholy. Is it a real space, or a memory? Is it a celebration of craft and labor, or a lament for a world that's fading away? Maybe it's both.