Werkende man in schuur 1886 - 1931

Petrus Marinus van Walcheren etched this image of a working man in a shed, and I can almost feel the artist hunched over the plate, scraping and biting into the metal. Look closely at the dense, crisscrossing lines! It’s all about mark-making, isn’t it? You can sense the physical effort, the repetitive motion, the building up of tone and texture. I imagine van Walcheren wrestling with the image, trying to coax light out of the darkness. The whole scene flickers and trembles, as if it’s on the verge of disappearing. There's something about the way he captures the man's labor that feels deeply human. He is not grandstanding but there is a gritty poetry here. The image reminds me of other artists wrestling with similar themes - like Millet or van Gogh. Artists are always in conversation with each other, even across time. The image celebrates the quiet dignity of everyday life.