Stoet vluchtelingen 1892

Romain Looymans created this etching titled "Stoet vluchtelingen," which translates to "Procession of Refugees." Notice how Looymans employs a stark, monochromatic palette to amplify the somber mood. The composition centres around a cluster of figures, their forms rendered with an economy of line. The artist skillfully uses hatching and cross-hatching to suggest depth and shadow, especially noticeable in the draped clothing, adding weight and volume to the figures. Looymans’s choice to depict the figures in motion conveys a sense of urgency and displacement. We see how the structural arrangement of figures—their postures and placement—evokes pathos, as they are caught between presence and absence. This visual strategy implicates viewers, prompting questions about our own complicity in how we witness and interpret suffering.