The Departure c. 1931

Walter Dubois Richards made "The Departure", a woodcut, sometime in the 20th century, and you can see the process in every clean line. It’s all about contrasts: black and white, stillness and movement, presence and absence. Richards uses this stark palette to create a scene that feels both familiar and a little mysterious. The black ink is laid down, flat and dense, while the negative space of the paper is used to describe the boats and figures. Look at how the white carves out the shapes of the waves, these are like quick, confident slashes, giving the impression of movement. The artist coaxes detail from the medium, there's a real sense of atmosphere created with so little. The high contrast and bold, graphic style reminds me of the work of artists like Gustave Baumann, who also embraced the graphic potential of woodcut prints. And, like all good art, it leaves you with more questions than answers. Where are they going? What are they leaving behind? The beauty of art is that it allows us to find our own meanings in the ambiguity.