Zelfportret van Meijer Bleekrode 1923

Editor: Here we have Meijer Bleekrode's self-portrait from 1923, a woodcut print. It's quite striking, the bold contrast makes it feel very immediate, but there’s also something unsettling about the geometric abstraction of his features. How would you interpret this work? Curator: As a woodcut, the work is immediately defined by its process. The stark contrast isn't just aesthetic, it reflects the very act of carving away at the wood, of materially reducing an image to its barest essentials. We need to consider this artwork in terms of its production. How does the labor inherent in the medium inform the work? Editor: So, the physical effort involved changes the way we perceive it? Curator: Exactly! Think about the context: 1923, a time of great social upheaval. Expressionism, and its German variant in particular, was flourishing, but consider woodcut's history as a democratic medium, used for mass communication. Was Bleekrode making a statement about the accessibility of art production in this turbulent time, contrasting against traditionally ‘high’ art like painting? Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way, but now I see how the medium connects to the wider social picture. Curator: Also note how Bleekrode caricatures his own features – the heavy brow, the stern gaze. It isn't just a portrait; it’s a comment on self-representation and perhaps the commodification of the artist’s image, especially in an era of emerging mass media. Consider it as labor represented. Editor: So by literally cutting into the wood, he’s perhaps also cutting into conventional artistic expectations and forcing us to consider production? It definitely puts a new perspective on this self-portrait! Curator: Precisely. It encourages us to question the artist's role and the art object's place within a changing social fabric.