Christus aan het kruis omringd door figuren en dieren met op de achtergrond de Eiffeltoren 1877 - 1930

Henri de Groux made this print, Christus aan het kruis omringd door figuren en dieren met op de achtergrond de Eiffeltoren, using black ink to stage a dream or nightmare vision. It’s a dark scene, and the artist really piles it on, not just in terms of imagery, but texture, too, with all those frantic little scribbles creating a thick, almost suffocating atmosphere. I can only imagine what it must have been like to stand before the plate, digging in with that needle, letting loose a flurry of marks. There is a real sense of urgency and unrestrained passion, which the artist has made, letting one image lead to another. This reminds me of Ensor, who was working around the same time, but also Goya, who had a similar approach to depicting scenes of chaos and social breakdown. But then I noticed the Eiffel Tower in the background. A strange and brilliant combination! Artists are always bouncing off each other, taking cues from the past but also pushing into the future, trying to find new ways to express the beautiful mess of being human.