Tempel in Benares bij avond Possibly 1914 - 1919

Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp made this print, Tempel in Benares bij avond, using a monochromatic palette. I can imagine him, maybe standing in the dark, squinting at the temple, as he carefully etched the image on the plate. The dark lines carve out the shape of the temple; the building is a central anchor amid the chaos of nature. It reminds me of Piranesi's architectural prints, the way the mass of the building seems to emerge from the landscape. I see how the temple is in the foreground. The artist must have felt something standing there in the shadows, trying to capture the play of light on the water and the looming trees. The landscape is simplified, and the shapes are flattened. It gives the print an almost dreamlike quality. And that little staircase leading down towards the water – it’s like a metaphor for the artist's own path, the one that leads him into the depths of his imagination.