Head of an Old Man with Beard 1902

Edvard Munch made this compelling head of an old man, with what looks like a woodcut. The raw simplicity is what grabs me, just the stark contrast of black and red. It reminds us that art-making is often about reduction, distilling an image down to its most essential forms. I’m drawn to the way Munch uses the wood grain to suggest both texture and emotion, creating a kind of visual shorthand. Look at the beard, how those carved lines give it weight, gravity even. The red backdrop, etched with horizontal lines, feels like a screen, a barrier, or perhaps a stage. It’s like the old man is both present and removed, caught between worlds. Munch's use of such graphic imagery puts me in mind of German Expressionists like Kirchner, or even some of the later work of Goya. It's about expression, not just representation. It's a reminder that art is never really finished, it's just abandoned, and the meaning is up for grabs, always shifting depending on who's looking.