Meisje bij een kerk 1925

Jo Bezaan made this etching, "Meisje bij een kerk", or "Girl at a Church", probably sometime in the 1940s. The image is a network of fine lines, a bit like a spider's web, where light and shadow are built up through careful, close hatching. You know, when I look at the girl standing in the foreground, she seems rooted to the spot, anchored by all this dark ink. It’s as though she’s grown out of the ground, or maybe she’s a ghost, standing still, while the world goes on around her. Look at the way the trees are described. They are looming, dark shapes. This is a really moody print; there's a very strong tonal contrast, which gives everything an intense, uneasy feeling. Bezaan’s print reminds me a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker. There is a similar interest in ordinary people and places. Both artists explore the quiet moments of everyday life with a kind of raw honesty. Art can be like that, a conversation across time, where artists respond to each other's visions, building something new from what has come before.