Uitgang van een haven 1924

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this print of a harbor exit sometime in his life, but we don’t know exactly when. The whole image is really built up of tiny marks, almost like he’s knitting the scene together. The different greys are all about how densely these marks are packed, so it's a real lesson in how much you can do with a little. Look at the closest boat. See how the light seems to catch on the tiny waves around it? You can almost feel the boat moving, slow and steady, through the water. It's like Schelfhout is showing us not just what the harbor looks like, but also how it feels to be there. This reminds me a lot of Whistler, who also used printmaking to capture fleeting moments and atmospheric effects. It makes you think about how artists are always in conversation with each other, picking up ideas and pushing them in new directions. In the end, it's not about one single answer but embracing all the different ways of seeing.