Mandsportræt med hat 1931

Henry Nielsen made this woodcut 'Man's Portrait with Hat' in 1931 using stark black ink on paper. It feels raw and immediate like he's wrestling with the image. I can almost feel Nielsen attacking the block with his tools, gouging out these bright white shapes from the darkness. What was he thinking as he carved away at the wood? Maybe he was trying to capture something essential, like the way light falls across a face, or the set of someone’s jaw. Look how the hat casts a shadow, obscuring the eyes and adding to the mystery. And the cigarette jutting out from the side of his mouth gives the figure a brooding, rebellious air. This print reminds me of other artists like Munch and Kirchner who were also exploring the expressive potential of woodcuts around this time. There’s a kind of conversation happening across time. Artists learn from and respond to each other, building on what came before. It reminds me that painting is a dance of intention and accident, with the artist surrendering control to the unpredictable nature of the medium.