Untitled (Woman and Child in War Landscape) c. 1938

David Bekker made this woodcut, Untitled (Woman and Child in War Landscape), with stark black lines carving out a scene of chaos and despair. It’s like the world is collapsing, not just in the image, but in the very act of making it. There’s such a physicality to the medium of woodcut. You can almost feel Bekker wrestling with the wood, digging into its surface to reveal this raw vision. The texture is rough, almost violent, echoing the war-torn landscape he depicts. Notice the chains that bind the woman and child, looping around them like a cruel joke. And the buildings! They’re not just collapsing; they’re fragmented, reduced to jagged edges and broken forms, mirroring the brokenness of human experience in wartime. This reminds me a bit of some of Kathe Kollwitz’s prints, where she’s also grappling with the horrors of war. Both artists aren’t afraid to show us the ugly truth, the messy reality of violence and suffering. It’s not pretty, but it's powerful.