Opgaande of ondergaande zon 1918

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this landscape—*Opgaande of ondergaande zon*—with etching in 1918. The radiating lines of the sun form a backdrop to the jagged tree in the foreground. I think about the artist's hand at work. It looks like Schelfhout scratched at the plate to create this image. Imagine them, leaning over the metal, pushing and pulling, inventing ways to describe light. The etched lines create textures that evoke a real place but also make it feel moody and unreal. I wonder if the title is a joke, because is it rising or setting? The sun could be either. That ambiguity, that openness, feels essential. It's about the possibilities of a moment, the endless becoming of everything around us. Making things, that's the real rising sun, isn't it?