Lezen (Liggend naakt, een boek lezend) 1913

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita made this woodcut print of a nude woman reading in bed. I see how the pressure of his hand guided the blade to create a stark contrast between black and white. I think about Mesquita’s hands, carving away at the wood, making each line so deliberate. The pattern on the wall behind her is so stylized and the lines feel very taut, not flowing. It looks like she is reading something important because she is very focused. I think it’s so intimate, the way she's completely exposed, yet lost in her own world. I imagine him considering how the texture of the wood itself becomes part of the image, adding depth and shadow. I'm sure Mesquita, like all of us, looked at other artists and thought, wow, I want to try that. It makes me think about all the ways we talk to each other across time through art.