Silhouet van een man met stralen rondom c. 1914

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita created this woodcut, "Silhouette of a Man with Rays Around," at an unknown date. The print presents a striking figure, a silhouetted man radiating with lines, centered within a framed rectangle. The lines suggest an emanation, as if the figure is a source of energy or light. The composition is notably symmetrical, which creates a sense of balance, and the limited palette focuses attention on the relationship between figure and ground. The artist uses the stark contrast between the silhouette and the radiating lines to explore themes of presence and absence, visibility and invisibility. The choice of a woodcut, with its inherent graphic quality, reinforces the starkness of the image, reducing the figure to its most essential form. This work raises questions about representation and identity: Is this a universal symbol of humanity or a specific individual? The rays might symbolize enlightenment or perhaps confinement, reflecting how the formal elements can convey multiple, even contradictory, ideas. By destabilizing fixed meanings through form, Mesquita invites us to engage actively with the visual and conceptual possibilities of the work.