Verdriet 1914

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita made this stark woodcut, ‘Verdriet’ – which means sorrow in Dutch – sometime before his tragic death in 1944. The artist carves a figure out of the block with simple brown lines, and by doing so he shows us that artmaking is a process of reduction, where the artist takes something away to find the essence of the form. Look at the way the artist uses the physicality of the medium to create the texture of the figure’s skin. The thin lines follow the contours of her body, emphasizing her vulnerability and emotion. Notice the area around her breasts and stomach, where the lines become denser and more pronounced, creating a sense of weight and volume. The light falls across the figure to create the shadow, enhancing this sense of sorrow. I’m reminded of Paula Modersohn-Becker, who was interested in the sculptural possibilities of paint. Like Becker, Mesquita seems intent on showing the body in a state of raw vulnerability. Art is often about this exchange of ideas through time, and how one generation responds to another. It's more a conversation than a statement.