Rotskust bij Saint-Raphaël 1930

Editor: "Rotskust bij Saint-Raphaël," or Rocky Coast near Saint-Raphaël, a 1930 linocut print by Bernard Essers, presents a stark, almost severe coastal scene. I am struck by the use of only black and white. What do you see when you examine this piece? Curator: Initially, the bold geometric forms arrests my attention. Note how the artist manipulates positive and negative space. Essers utilizes these high contrasts to describe both solid rock formations and the dynamic movement of water. It is worth pondering how the lines contribute a certain visual weight, would you agree? Editor: Definitely. The diagonal lines create such an active surface! They seem to be used almost in opposition; vertical strokes represent hard rocky cliff faces, horizontal represent waves flowing from left to right, and diagonal strokes indicating that nature is jagged and uneven. It’s striking for something printed on a flat surface! Curator: Precisely. It is in that deliberate tension between flatness and implied depth that its aesthetic power resides. Observe the formal interplay between the angular, sharply defined rocks and the more fluid rendering of the water and foliage. Does this tension perhaps hint at a philosophical understanding between humanity, symbolized by that jagged geometry, against the everchanging nature depicted in the fluidity of those waves? Editor: That's a fascinating point! The use of sharp angles really drives the form, now that you bring it to my attention! And how they interact really speaks to this dynamic landscape, constantly in flux! I now consider this interplay between form, the sharpness versus the waves. Thank you!