Bij Bommerig (Z. Limburg) 1930

Otto Hanrath’s print of Bommerig, in South Limburg, is an image built from thousands of tiny marks. It is the kind of piece that makes you think about the making, the time spent, the pressure of the hand. The texture of the ink is really beautiful. It's not just about what the image represents, it’s about the physical quality of the marks, how they build up to create something that feels both detailed and a little hazy. Look at the way the sky is rendered, almost like scribbles, and how this contrasts with the denser, more controlled marks in the foreground foliage. There is a real sense of layering, of looking through one thing to see another. This reminds me a little of some of the etchings of Samuel Palmer, that same intensity of vision, that feeling of the world being alive with detail. But Hanrath brings his own sensibility, a kind of quiet observation. These are artworks that speak to the possibility of seeing and thinking in new ways.