Farbholzschnitt 1952-2 1952

Ernst Wilhelm Nay made this woodcut print, Farbholzschnitt 1952-2, using various blocks of color, each adding its own layer to the overall composition. It's like he’s building up the image piece by piece, letting each color interact with the others in unpredictable ways. You can really see the texture of the wood in the print, which gives it a tactile quality. I love how the colors aren't perfectly aligned. In the upper right, there’s this cluster of orange and black that feels so alive. Nay was part of this post-war movement of artists exploring abstraction, and you can see how he’s pushing the boundaries of what a print can be. It reminds me a little bit of the work of the German Expressionists, like Kirchner or Heckel, but with a more playful, less angst-ridden vibe. For Nay, I think abstraction was a way of embracing possibility.