Centauren in een grot 1920 - 1935

Ker Xavier Roussel made this print, Centauren in een grot, with a kind of smoky, dreamy lithographic process. It’s all about atmosphere, how tone and value can create a mood. The image is so dark, nearly swallowed by shadow, that it’s hard to make out the figures at first. But then your eye adjusts and the centaurs emerge from the gloom! This feels like a scene from a dream. Look at the way the light seems to pour in from above, hitting the figures. It almost feels like a stage set. Roussel reminds me of Odilon Redon who also embraced ambiguity. Both artists leave space for our imaginations. It’s like they are not trying to show us something, but invite us to feel something. Art’s not about answers, it’s about the questions it stirs up in us.