Gestileerde compositie met een kind voor een zittende vrouw 1919

Henk Schilling created this stylized composition of a child before a seated woman, date unknown, using the graphic medium of woodcut. Woodcut demands a reductive, and committed process. Once a cut is made in the block, it can’t be undone; and each print requires careful inking and pressing. The starkness of the black and white image is entirely characteristic of the process. Here, the artist coaxes an impressive degree of detail from the wood, especially in the rendering of the figures and architectural setting. The angularity of the design is in keeping with the Expressionist style of the early twentieth century. However, the image is also reminiscent of earlier Northern European woodcuts, which often feature similar juxtapositions of figures and compressed space. Schilling clearly knew his art history, yet put his own stamp on it. The labor and skill required for such a precise print underscores the value of this graphic art, which operates between fine art and craft.