Kysten ved Strandegårds Dyrehave 1916

Axel Holm made this print of the coast by Strandegårds Dyrehave with ink on paper. You can see a real commitment to process in the density of the marks, like he’s building a whole world just with tiny, tiny strokes. Up close, the texture of the paper and the variations in the ink create a tactile experience, almost like you could reach out and feel the grit of the sand or the dampness of the water. It's pretty amazing how much atmosphere Holm gets from black ink alone. Look at how he uses the hatching to suggest the movement of the water. The light reflecting on the little waves and ripples, it reminds me of a similar approach taken by Whistler, someone else who wasn’t afraid to let tone do the talking. Ultimately this piece is about the conversation artists have with each other, across time and space, all trying to figure out how to capture the world in their own way.