Vrouw onderwijst over de levensfases van de mens, naast haar een aap en draaiorgelspeler 1910 - 1930

This is a print by Joseph Uhl, titled 'Woman Teaching About the Stages of Human Life', and it's like a faded photograph, but the image is made up of tiny little dots. It's from a time when artists were really pushing the boundaries of what printmaking could do. There's a woman, and she has a sort of chart showing the stages of life, next to an organ grinder with his monkey. Uhl's mark-making is so labor-intensive, so repetitive, like making a million tiny decisions. Look closely and you'll see how the surface almost vibrates. It reminds me of the pointillist paintings of Seurat, where the image is built up from tiny dots of color. But here, it's all about the tonal range, the subtle gradations of light and dark. You can almost feel the dust motes dancing in the air. It's a piece that invites you to slow down, to contemplate the ephemerality of life.