Portret van de vader van de kunstenaar met viool 1896 - 1944

Emilius Wilhelmus Dehé made this etching, Portret van de vader van de kunstenaar met viool, with drypoint. It’s all about process. You can see how Dehé has worked the plate, scratching into it, creating this tonal image of his father. Look at the way the light falls across the older man’s face, the delicate web of marks creating volume and depth. You can almost feel the texture of his skin. The soft, blurred lines add to the intimate feeling of the portrait. Then notice how the sharp, clean lines of the violin stand out. It’s like the man and his music are two separate entities, brought together in the same space. This piece reminds me of the work of Käthe Kollwitz, who also used etching to explore themes of family and loss. Both artists embrace the imperfect, the messy, and the ambiguous. And that's what makes their work so powerful.