Man in een vulkanisch landschap op Bali Possibly 1908 - 1916

'Man in een vulkanisch landschap op Bali' is an etching made by Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp. The composition seems to hinge on a tension between depiction and decoration. The landscape is delicately rendered, but framed by a patterned border suggestive of the decorative arts. It's as if the artist is inviting us to see the world through the lens of craft. The image offers a subtle surface quality - the etched lines forming delicate tonal shifts to suggest a volcanic landscape. Look at the figure in the landscape, he could almost be a representation of the artist himself. The top border almost looks as though it’s smoking like the volcano in the distance, as if the energy of the landscape is pushing the limits of the border! It reminds me of the prints of someone like Hercules Seghers, another artist who was really pushing the boundaries of printmaking. Ultimately this work is about embracing the beauty of the natural world but also of the art of its making.