Vogel op een tak 1892 - 1951

This is a small print, 'Vogel op een tak' or 'Bird on a Branch', made by Janus de Winter. It’s a simple scene, a bird perched on a branch, but the bold black lines give it real character. I can imagine de Winter carefully carving away at the block, each cut defining the bird's form and the texture of the branch. There's a real sense of the artist's hand present, you know? The bird seems to be singing. The surface is so physical, you can imagine the pressure needed to transfer the image from block to paper. It reminds me of other graphic artists, like the woodcuts of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. It makes you think about the possibilities and the limitations, but that’s what I love. It’s like they’re all in dialogue across time, pushing and pulling at each other's ideas.