Studies van bladeren 1913

Joseph Mendes da Costa made this print, "Studies van bladeren," probably sometime around 1913, using etching. It's all about process, you know? The way the lines are dug into the metal, leaving a trace. The texture is key here. You can almost feel the roughness of the plate, the way the ink clings to the surface. Look at the central cluster of leaves, how they gather around a single point, and how they are rendered. Notice the way light catches the edges of the leaves, giving them a sense of depth and weight, and see how the individual strokes are both delicate and assertive. It's like watching the artist think, the way the marks feel so immediate, so alive. Mendes da Costa reminds me of Odilon Redon, another artist who embraced the weirdness of the natural world, but, you know, every artist is in conversation with the past, trying to figure out their own way of seeing.