Straatgezicht met trap in Cagnes-sur-Mer 1928

Here’s a monochromatic woodcut, ‘Straatgezicht met trap in Cagnes-sur-Mer’, made in 1928 by Abraham Johannes Jansma. Imagine Jansma carving this block of wood; thinking about which parts to remove and which to leave in relief to create contrast. The artist is working with such graphic clarity, like a cartoonist! The high contrast of black and white gives it a bold, almost poster-like quality. I wonder what it was like for Jansma to walk these streets? It’s a really interesting composition, made up of stairs, buildings, and a plant in the foreground, with a tunnel receding into the distance, drawing the viewer’s eye to the center of the image. You know, making art is a conversation. Jansma had his own vision and was likely inspired by the artists who came before him, like the German Expressionists. He then passes that inspiration on to us.