J.G. Beukers op zijn sterfbed 1933

This etching of J.G. Beukers on his deathbed was made by Lodewijk Schelfhout. The work is small, intimate, and immediate, with a silvery grey palette. I can only imagine the process of making this. It's like Schelfhout used line to explore the contours and shadows of the face, trying to understand what death looks like, feels like. Did he want to capture a likeness or grasp something deeper about the mystery of life’s end? I wonder what they were thinking as they made this? Was it emotional? Did they know Beukers personally? The lines feel tentative, but they are also confident, decisive. They map the landscape of the face, the brow, the nose, the mouth. There’s a tenderness to the observation, a quietness that’s almost reverential, in the same way that a lot of the Dutch masters have. This piece reminds us that artists are always in conversation with one another, across time. I think Schelfhout has made a beautiful expression of what it means to be human.