Musefælden 1857 - 1946

Viggo Jastrau made this still life, ‘Musefælden,’ which translates to ‘Mousetrap,’ using etching. It has the kind of brooding darkness you get with etching, and the more you look, the more detail emerges from the shadows. I like to imagine Jastrau carefully layering those tiny marks, building up the forms of bottles and bowls. He uses a very limited palette. The dark ink has its own kind of beauty, doesn't it? You can almost feel the texture of the paper. It's as if he's not just showing us objects, but the very act of seeing itself. Looking at this, I’m reminded of other artists who played with light and dark, like Rembrandt, but Jastrau brings his own quiet intensity. In some ways, art is a conversation across time, artists responding to each other, picking up ideas, and transforming them.