Kat op de rug gezien 1884 - 1952

This is a small print of two cats, made by Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries. The grainy texture, it's probably a lithograph or woodcut. I love the way the artist used the contrast between light and dark to create these simple shapes. The cat on the right, seen from the back, looks relaxed but alert. The whiskers are sticking up, all straight lines. The overall effect is so simple and so refined. There's a beautiful balance between the crisp edges of the cats and the softer, more textured background. I love how the artist has left so much to the imagination, leaving it up to us to fill in the details and create our own narrative. This reminds me of some of the prints of cats made by Théophile Steinlen, who was working a few decades before de Vries.