Kar trekken before 1935

Reinier van den Berg made 'Kar trekken' using etching, and what emerges feels like it's risen up from the depths, hasn't it? I'm wondering what it must have been like for him, the artist, to create this piece. I imagine he might have been thinking about his own place in the world, or perhaps the weight of society pressing down. This reminds me, in some way, of Paula Modersohn-Becker and Käthe Kollwitz. These artists, with their intimate portrayals of everyday life, they’re all in conversation, right? Look at the way the buildings loom in the background, as if these characters are trapped, and then the slight, smudgy lines that describe the figures feel as if they might disappear at any moment. As a painter myself, I know that every mark is a decision, a tiny revelation. I believe there’s a shared language there. We painters are always finding new ways to ask, and to answer.