Gezicht op een onbekend persoon in een heuvelachtig landschap met bomen before 1902

This photogravure titled "Gezicht op een onbekend persoon in een heuvelachtig landschap met bomen", was made by Hugo Henneberg. It is an image built of velvety blacks and soft greys, made by layering tones to create depth. Henneberg coaxes a startling range of effects from the simple monochrome palette. The layering of tones is key to the atmospheric quality, and the feeling of stepping into the unknown. The image seems to shimmer with light, but everything remains ambiguous. Look at how the trees rise from the crest of the hill on the right, each one a unique shape, yet blurred into a single dark mass. The figure is small and obscure, almost swallowed by the density of the landscape. I think of Gerhard Richter's landscapes when I see this; both explore the tension between clarity and obscurity, inviting us to meditate on the ways we perceive and remember the world around us. There is a sense here that truth is never singular or fixed, but always shifting and contingent.