Het zinken van een Russisch slagschip tijdens de zeeslag bij Port Arthur 1904

This print of a Russian battleship sinking near Port Arthur, we think by Gakyôjin, is all about process, about layering colour. The flatness of the water, the sky, and the ship really compress the space, as if everything is happening on one plane. I’m really drawn to the smoke plume at the top, this kind of grey, swirling cloud form. There’s something really delicate about how the artist has built this up in layers, almost like watercolour. It’s strange to think of something as violent as a naval battle being rendered with such fragility. And it’s a neat trick, because it kind of draws you in, so you almost forget the actual subject matter, and focus on the material qualities, the flatness of the surface, the texture of the printmaking. This reminds me a little bit of some of Hiroshige’s seascapes. But where he’s all about capturing a sense of atmosphere, Gakyôjin is kind of doing something different, taking these dramatic events and turning them into a study of colour and form. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t always have to be about telling a story. Sometimes, it’s just about seeing how different ways of seeing can change our perspectives.