Besneeuwde stad 1904 - 1937

Johan van Hell made this print, Besneeuwde stad, using stark, contrasting lines to depict a snowy city scene bustling with life. The sharp, deliberate marks carve out a world, a process of reduction and revelation. It’s the total blacks that grab you first, the way they define the buildings, heavy with snow. But then your eye dances across the white space, the untouched paper, that becomes the snow-covered ground, alive with figures. Look at those tiny, active shapes of people playing, each one described with just a few lines. They’re almost like hieroglyphs, each a little burst of energy. The flat perspective reminds me of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, both capturing a community, a collective experience, of ordinary people caught in the depths of winter. This isn’t just a picture; it's a slice of life, a stage for human activity, all rendered in the most economical way.