Vissengraten c. 1944 - 1990

This etching of fish bones, or Vissengraten as Kees Stoop called it, is a tight composition of lines and shading that's both scientific and whimsical. I can imagine Stoop hunched over the plate, carefully dragging a needle across its surface, building up this intricate network. The fish head is rendered with particular attention; you can almost feel the texture of the scales, the hollow of the eye socket. The ribs flow back like a feathery dress. There is a sense of decay here, but also of beauty, transformation. The artist’s meticulous mark-making really elevates the mundane—a simple skeleton—into something profound. It reminds me a little of Ensor’s preoccupation with death, but with a lighter touch. These artists are in conversation with each other, it's like the way the best painters of our time are still, in some way, talking to Picasso. The ambiguity here is compelling; it’s not just about death, but about the cyclical nature of life.