Vrouwen met lantaarns op straat after 1911

Rik Wouters made this small etching, 'Vrouwen met lantaarns op straat' – Women with Lanterns on the Street – working with needle and acid to create a scene filled with light and shadow. It looks like a quick sketch somehow captured in metal. The material aspects of this work are intriguing; look at the buildings on the left. See how Wouters creates texture with closely packed lines. It’s almost as if he’s trying to capture not just the image of the building but also the sensation of its rough surface. And notice the small figures walking down the street. Their presence adds a sense of scale and depth to the scene. The contrast between the dark foreground and the lighter background gives the image a kind of luminous quality. Wouters tragically died young, but his work – which includes paintings, sculptures and prints – reminds me a little of Bonnard. The work of both artists embraces ambiguity, suggesting multiple interpretations rather than fixed meanings.