Portret van een onbekende vrouw 1913

This 'Portret van een onbekende vrouw' was made by Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, but when exactly, we don’t know. It's made using woodcut, which is a relief printing technique. Mesquita’s woodcut is so stark; a brilliant study in contrasts, where light and shadow carve out a space of contemplative silence. I love how the black ink, laid down with such deliberate precision, forms the very essence of the portrait. You can almost feel the artist’s hand as he meticulously cuts away at the woodblock. Take a look at how the stark geometry of the sitter's face contrasts with the soft drapery of her form. The diamond shapes describing her eye socket are so interesting, it almost gives her the appearance of wearing a mask. This kind of reductive, graphic style is typical of German Expressionist printmakers like Kirchner and Heckel, who were active at the time. It shows how art is always in dialogue, with artists borrowing, responding, and pushing back against what came before. Ultimately, it is the ambiguity of Mesquita’s piece that makes it so compelling.