Composition / Sun in the Center 1918

Arnold Topp made this linocut, Composition / Sun in the Center, at some point in his career, we don't know exactly when. It's a wild little scene, isn't it? Topp is really working that contrast, that back and forth between black and white. The image is composed of a central sun motif radiating out to houses or buildings on either side. Look closely and you can see the hand of the artist so clearly in each mark, like a dance between intention and accident. The negative space is just as important as the black ink. It's not just about what's there, but also about what's left out, what's implied. Each cut and carve feels deliberate, like he's chiseling away at the world to reveal something new. Thinking about contemporaries, someone like Lyonel Feininger also comes to mind, who was part of the Bauhaus movement. But what Topp does in this piece is all his own. It's a great reminder that art is always a conversation, a back-and-forth between artists across time and space.