Winter 1902

This is ‘Winter’ by Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva, but we don’t know when it was made. I imagine the artist carefully carving into a block, maybe wood or linoleum, to make this image. What a bleak, wintry landscape! I wonder if she was thinking about the starkness of Russian winters? You can really feel the bite of the wind here, can’t you? See how the lines bend and sway, especially in the branches of those trees, creating a real sense of movement? It’s a feeling I know well in my own studio. I’m interested in how the lines are all pointing in similar directions as if the artist used one, maybe two tools to create the whole image. Each mark feels so intentional, almost like she's building a structure or mapping a terrain. It reminds me of the work of other printmakers and painters who were exploring the expressive potential of line and form, like Emil Nolde. Ultimately, artists keep the conversation flowing, inspiring each other across time and place. This piece is a reminder that, in art, as in life, there are always new ways of seeing and understanding the world.