Ferdinand Hodler 1904

This is Emil Orlik’s woodcut portrait of Ferdinand Hodler from 1909. The image is built from a monochromatic scheme of cool greys and blacks. I'm imagining Orlik, carefully carving away at the wood, each line a deliberate choice to capture Hodler's likeness. You know, looking at Hodler's strong profile, his intense gaze, I wonder what Orlik was thinking. Was he trying to capture Hodler's essence, his intensity? The texture created by the woodcut gives the portrait a tactile quality. Hodler's beard almost feels like you could reach out and touch it. It reminds me of other portraits of artists by artists, like Warhol's screenprints of famous faces. You can really see the tradition of portraiture throughout the history of art, each artist bringing their unique perspective and style to the genre. Ultimately, art-making is a conversation, artists borrowing, responding to, and riffing off each other across time. And it is through these iterations and the embrace of different approaches and viewpoints that new ideas emerge.