Twee kinderen 1899 - 1937

This print, "Twee kinderen," by Han van Meegeren, is all about mark-making, a real conversation between dark and light. It feels immediate, like a sketch but with a deliberateness that gives it weight. Looking closely, you can almost feel the scratch of the tool as it bites into the plate. Notice the way the lines cluster and diverge to define form, like the boy's focused face and the soft shadow around him. It is a real lesson in how much you can do with so little. The texture created is so rich, it gives a real sense of the scene, the hay, the wooden chair, even the stillness in the air. It's as if the artist is thinking aloud, each line a little thought, a little feeling. It reminds me a bit of Rembrandt's etchings, that same attention to the human condition, the same willingness to leave the process visible, to let the viewer in on the secret of how it was made. Ultimately, art is not about answers, it is about questions.