The Writing Prophet (Saint John on Patmos) 1919

This is Ernst Barlach's "The Writing Prophet," Saint John on Patmos. The textures in this black-and-white print are really something, aren't they? You can see how Barlach carved away at the wood, imagining Saint John hunched over, divinely inspired, scratching away, trying to capture these visions on whatever surface he could find. I imagine Barlach working away at the block, each cut a decision, a struggle between what to reveal and what to conceal. You can almost feel the weight of the task, the pressure of translating something so immense into something so small. And those hands, those expressive hands, reaching out to us, inviting us to read the writing. Barlach's commitment to expression seems very similar to that of folks like Munch, whose art digs deep into the human condition.