Bottles of the Sea c. 1945

Veronica Helfensteller made this tiny monochromatic etching, ‘Bottles of the Sea’, by pressing a metal plate onto paper. I can just imagine her working away, hunched over a table, carefully etching lines onto the plate. You can sense her curiosity in the way she scratched at the surface, building up the tones so the light seems to shimmer and glow. There’s a tactile quality to it; I can feel the rough texture of the metal under my fingertips. The composition feels so intimate, like a secret world waiting to be discovered. The bottles and leaves almost seem to breathe, as if Helfensteller captured a fleeting moment in time. She’s part of this tradition of female printmakers like Käthe Kollwitz or Paula Modersohn-Becker, who use the medium to explore ideas and express themselves so directly. The image feels so personal, almost diaristic. It’s like she’s inviting us into her studio, sharing her thoughts, her process, and her own unique way of seeing.