Liegender Akt II (Reclining Nude II) 1918

Otto Lange made this woodcut, Reclining Nude II, at an unknown date, using just black ink on paper. Look at how the figure emerges from contrasting black and white planes, kind of like the figure is finding its form and expression as the printing progresses. I wonder what it must have been like to carve away at the wood, committing to each cut? The black shapes aren’t just black, are they? They become light and shadow, contour and form. That solid black circle, for example, is also the model's head and hair. The lines create a bold and simplified scene which still manages to express something profound about the human form. It’s interesting how artists like Lange, and others, like Matisse, keep revisiting the same themes, like the reclining nude, each time exploring different ways of representing the body, emotion, and experience. It's like a constant conversation across time, each artist building upon, and responding to, what came before.