Drie mannen in een stal 1924

Willem de Zwart made this etching, Drie mannen in een stal, using black ink on paper. It's all about the surface, and the lines he chose. He isn’t trying to show you what a barn looks like, more like giving you the feeling of one. Look closely and you can see how much texture he achieves. It’s not just about describing the scene but also the physical act of etching. It's like the barn's structure and the labor inside are being built up right before our eyes. The scratching reminds me that art is an ongoing conversation, it’s not just what you see but what you feel. The way de Zwart uses cross-hatching to build up the shadows reminds me of Rembrandt. But there’s also something very modern here in the way he’s willing to let the image fall apart, to embrace the ambiguity. Art isn't about fixed meanings, it's about creating space for interpretation.