Een leerling van 1908 1908

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita made this woodcut, A Student of 1908, on paper. It's so stark, this use of just black and white, right? It makes you think about the basics of seeing, of form, of how just a few choices can say so much. Looking closely, you can see the texture of the woodgrain, it gives everything a kind of depth. The way the artist uses the black ink is super interesting. It's not just flat. Look at the students jacket, you see all these tiny variations that give it a real sense of weight and presence. It’s such a contrast to the smoothness of the face. This reminds me of some of the later work by the German Expressionist artist, Erich Heckel, particularly in the way he used woodcuts to make portraits that were both simple and deeply expressive. Art is always talking to art, across time, across styles. Isn't that awesome?