De Notenkraker, 10 november 1907 / De groote kwartjesvinder Possibly 1907 - 1911

Albert Hahn made this lithograph on November 10, 1907, for the satirical magazine "De Notenkraker." You can see how Hahn built up the tones with hatching, creating a dark, somber mood. It's interesting to think about how many lines he must have drawn to create such a dense image. I imagine Hahn, leaning over the lithographic stone, meticulously layering each line, thinking about the message he wanted to convey. It's probably about the political or social issues of his time, and I wonder what it was like to be him, grappling with the anxieties and absurdities of the early 20th century. I wonder who else was making work like this? The cross-hatching here reminds me a little of artists like Max Beckmann or Käthe Kollwitz, who both used printmaking to grapple with the weighty themes of social injustice and war. Artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity.