Titelvignet met gekroond schedel en apen c. 1910

This title vignette with crowned skull and apes was crafted by Bernard Willem Wierink. Imagine the artist, Wierink, carefully carving the linoleum or woodblock, teasing out these striking images from the surface. Look at the reddish-brown hue, a kind of earthy melancholy that seeps into the whole scene. The crowned skull stares out, flanked by these contemplative apes – it’s like a strange, dark mirror reflecting something about power, mortality, and maybe even our own animal nature. The lines are so deliberate. You can almost feel the artist's hand guiding the tool, each cut a decision, a tiny act of revelation. There's a strong graphic quality, reminding me a bit of other printmakers and their play with stark contrasts and symbolic imagery, like echoes of Goya's more macabre moments, or Dix. It’s a reminder that artists are always in conversation, riffing off each other, and delving into the same big questions, even if they come at it from wildly different angles. And it's all about seeing what comes out of the dark.