Koeien in een landschap 1938

This is Koeien in een landschap, or Cows in a Landscape, by Bernard Essers, we don't know exactly when it was made, but it's a woodcut, so it's all about the process of carving away to reveal an image. The stark black and white creates a kind of dramatic simplicity. It's got this graphic punch, right? Look at how he carves the tree, it is a mass of tiny marks all clustered together, but if you look closely, Essers uses this mark making throughout the whole image, to create patterns and textures that bring a tactile quality to the work, like the cows themselves are covered in some kind of textured fabric. The cows are arranged in a row, and there is a sense of movement and rhythm in their forms, it reminds me of the the German Expressionist printmakers like Heckel or Schmidt-Rottluff who used this medium to explore a directness and emotional intensity. This piece is a reminder that art is not a solitary endeavor. It's a conversation, a dance through time and ideas. It's about questions, not answers, always leaving room for the unexpected.