Reuzenreiger 1915

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita made this print of a heron, I guess without a date, using woodcut. It’s not just a picture, it's a constructed vision of reality, and that's what grabs me. The sharp contrasts! It's like looking at the world through a stencil. The way he’s used these graphic black lines to define the bird's plumage, it almost feels like he's mapping out its essence rather than just describing its appearance. The density of the black ink against the stark white paper creates this vibrating tension. There’s so much life in those parallel lines, you know? The lines used for the heron’s wing against the vertical lines that create the wall behind it, and that small window! All of it is pushing and pulling at the same time. It makes me think of those expressionist woodcuts. It is all about feeling your way through an image. A conversation across time. It’s not about answers, it’s about the questions.