Ahmed, de grootspreker c. 1902

This lithograph by Jules Hénault, made sometime around the turn of the century, has the quality of an illustration taken from a children’s book. There’s a sense of lightness and charm. The color palette is bright but a little faded, as though the artwork has been sitting in the sun for a while, or perhaps it’s simply characteristic of the printing technology from the time. I can imagine Hénault at work, carefully transferring his vision to the lithographic stone, maybe even using a magnifying glass for all the fine detail and decorative pattern. What was he thinking about as he placed each mark? The sequence of images, like a storyboard, puts me in mind of other graphic artists like Posada or even contemporary cartoonists. Hénault, Posada, and all painters since Lascaux are in an ongoing conversation, each informing the other’s practice. Each mark we make is a way of understanding our place in the world. Making art is like thinking aloud – a process of discovery.