Song Bird 1912

Curator: It’s Christian Rohlfs’ 1912 woodcut, "Song Bird". I love how stark and immediate it feels, even a century on. Editor: Immediate, yes, almost primitive, like a shadow puppet show. But I find it… slightly melancholic. Is the bird singing to the man, or taunting him? Curator: I read it as communication, a dialogue even. The bird seems to be mid-song, head thrown back, totally exposed. And the man, weathered, listening intently, maybe learning. Birds have been powerful symbols through human history, haven’t they? Messengers between worlds, omens… Editor: Indeed. And consider the Expressionist style. The bold cuts of the woodblock print eliminate any shading, only stark shapes filled with inky color and unpainted voids, highlighting what is there. The forms feel pushed to their symbolic essence, not reality. What sort of essence? Curator: That’s the magic of Rohlfs. There’s this quiet dignity in how he captures this moment. It’s almost a secret, personal interaction between the man and nature that transcends narrative to arrive at the feeling of deep personal connection to the living earth. Editor: There’s also an undercurrent of human smallness here. Look at the scale; the figure is physically large, yes, but in the face of the natural world – which includes a simple bird and an arboreal boundary – he appears rather humble and isolated. He is on his own, listening with hope, searching for solace. Is he a pauper or just an everyday man that's old? Curator: Possibly both. Rohlfs made a point of stripping away the trappings of wealth or status. To make everyone aware of our bare humanity... It makes it much harder to judge or ignore our need for understanding. Editor: Ultimately, the dialogue captured in "Song Bird" is beautifully human, even universal. The relationship we establish in the simplest circumstances can speak volumes about ourselves and the shared, if fleeting, conditions of existence. Curator: A quiet, but profoundly poignant connection to the wider world; that's it exactly. The echo of a melody from outside your own interior experience!