Greyhound 1912

Moriz Jung made this small-scale print, Greyhound, using woodcut. The image is all about the contrast between the wiry lines of the dog and the flat plane of that incredible turquoise ground. The color's so vibrant; it almost vibrates against the grayscale of the dog. Look at how Jung uses these tiny, repetitive motifs to create the illusion of depth, a forest maybe, and then that lovely, simple border near the bottom. The dog itself is rendered with such confidence, a few strokes here and there to suggest muscle and bone. It's like Jung wasn't trying to capture the perfect likeness, but more the essence, the energy of this beautiful animal. You can feel the artist’s hand in the varying pressure of the lines, making some darker and thicker, others lighter and more delicate. It's this kind of attention to process that makes printmaking so endlessly fascinating. I am reminded of the work of the slightly later German Expressionist artist Franz Marc who also liked to depict animals in woodcut. Like Marc, Jung is interested in the expressive potential of line and color.