The Occurence (Girl with Fish and Birds) 1920

Heinrich Campendonk pulled this image, called 'The Occurrence (Girl with Fish and Birds)' out of a woodblock, and I am just eating it up! Look at the way he uses flat colour and hard black lines, the simplified forms of the figures and creatures, all squashed together in the picture plane! I can imagine him, maybe jamming away to some cool tunes, deeply focused, hand-eye coordination in full flow, carving away at the wood with his tools. It's hard to tell what he might have been thinking as he was working, but there's a spiritual quality to it that reminds me of early German Expressionists like Emil Nolde and Erich Heckel. Something raw and honest. And the colour: ochre, black, green, and blue. It gives the image an earthy feel, while still being vibrant and full of life! The way Campendonk lets the different hues talk to one another is so interesting, so full of possibilities. It's like the image is alive and breathing right in front of us.