Sepp and Kathi Steidler, Popular House Comedians 1907

Moriz Jung made this print of Sepp and Kathi Steidler, popular house comedians, using black, white and yellow blocks. Just look at the way he's rendered the figures with such simple shapes. I can almost feel him carving into the wood, defining the forms with economical and elegant lines. I'm wondering, what was Jung thinking as he reduced the folds of the accordion to these graphic lines? Or the texture of the sausages into these simple curves? It's like he’s taking the world, and abstracting its essence. Even the sausage-laden table seems to teeter on the edge of cartoonish absurdity, but it’s rescued by the artist's sure hand. I find myself thinking about German Expressionist woodcuts – those guys were so into line and texture. Jung’s carving feels part of that lineage of simplification, but with a lighter, more playful edge. Isn't it amazing how artists build upon each other, passing down ideas across time? I think of painting as a form of dialogue – embracing ambiguity, where multiple readings are possible.