De Notenkraker, 17 augustus 1907 / Schijn en wezen Possibly 1907 - 1917

This print, "De Notenkraker, 17 augustus 1907 / Schijn en wezen," was made by Albert Hahn. It’s rendered in a monochromatic palette of black ink on paper, and the lines are so fine, they create an almost grey tonality. Imagine Hahn hunched over his drawing board, the nib of his pen scratching across the surface of the paper. He’s capturing the spirit of his age, turning a critical eye toward these figures—the soldier, the sheik, and the faceless politicians gathered around a table. The whole scene is an act of aiming. One aims a rifle. The other aims to blow in the barrel. And those below seem to aim with their pens. It's a set up, right? I think of Goya and Philip Guston and how they used satire to make people think. Hahn uses his sharp, incisive lines to skewer the hypocrisy of power. Each mark is a deliberate jab. Like a stand-up comic, Hahn invites us to laugh, but also to reflect on the uncomfortable truths of the world. Artists are always in dialogue with one another, responding to the past while imagining new possibilities for the future.