Christus, hangend aan een doek 1922

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this small print, "Christus, hangend aan een doek" using the drypoint technique. See how the lines waver and fray, like the edges of a torn cloth? And the way he's surrounded by these anxious, searching lines. The whole thing is kind of scratchy, like he’s trying to dig beneath the surface of something. There's a real feeling of doubt, or maybe even anger, in the raw marks themselves. Look at how the dark lines seem to almost trap the figure, creating a sense of claustrophobia. I am reminded of Käthe Kollwitz and the way she uses line to convey suffering and emotional intensity, although Schelfhout's approach feels less overtly political, more focused on the personal struggle of faith. In the end, the piece is a testament to art's ability to hold space for doubt, for questioning, for the messy, unresolved aspects of human experience.