Vrouw, frontaal 1878 - 1943

This woodcut called "Vrouw, frontaal" (Woman, Frontal) was made by Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita. It's this ghostly portrait, really, cut from the wood itself. I imagine him, Mesquita, carving away, maybe thinking about the graphic clarity of someone like Edvard Munch, but with a folksier touch. The woman's got these big, expressive eyes and mouth, like she's about to tell you a secret or burst out laughing. But it's the texture that gets me, that all-over granular feel, like she's emerging from a cloud of tiny particles. And then, those square hands, so simple and direct. It's like he's saying, "Here she is, take her as she is." Painting, or in this case, printmaking, is always a conversation, right? We're all riffing off each other, trying to find new ways to see and feel. It's never fixed, always open to interpretation.