Illinois Landscape 1938

William Jacobs carved this woodblock print of an Illinois landscape in 1938, layering textures to capture the essence of a place. Just imagine Jacobs, tool in hand, carefully gouging away at the wood, deciding what to leave and what to take. There’s a conversation happening between the black and white, a push and pull that creates depth and light. The tree is just amazing; it is central, drawing the eye up towards the bushy canopy, rendered with this stippled effect, like a million tiny decisions. Look at the top left, you see the hatch marks creating storm clouds. The light and shadow play, creating a moody, yet serene, snapshot of the Midwest. Jacobs's mark-making reminds me of other artists preoccupied with nature, like the German Expressionist woodcuts of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. But here, there’s a distinctly American sensibility, a grounding in the local and the everyday. Each artist builds upon what came before, engaging in a visual dialogue that spans generations.