Stilleven 1919

This is Arend van Starrenburg’s ‘Stilleven,’ a black and white print of some vegetables. The dark, carved lines feel really deliberate, and I can imagine Starrenburg carefully cutting away at the block. Is it wood? Linoleum? Whatever it is, each line must have been a commitment, a mark of intention. The veggies are laid out in a line, two cabbages and a bunch of onions and tomatoes. There’s a formality to it that I appreciate. It’s like he’s saying, "Look at these humble vegetables. They have a beauty all their own." It reminds me of Morandi and his bottles, finding endless variation in the everyday. I wonder if Starrenburg was thinking about him. Artists are always talking to each other, across time, across mediums, and it’s nice to think of them working together, even if they never met.