Le cinquième livre des stances 1927

Bernard Essers made "Le cinquième livre des stances", a woodcut print, sometime in the first half of the 20th century. Look at how the whole scene is rendered with just black and white, a real contrast that makes the image pop. What strikes me is the way the artist carved the lines to create texture. The tree trunk has these diagonal strokes that almost feel like you could run your fingers over them. The flowers are a riot of tiny, detailed cuts, giving them a delicate, almost lacy quality. The way the branches reach out, almost like arms, reminds me of Van Gogh's drawings. Both artists had this knack for capturing the energy and life force of trees, making them feel almost human. It shows how artists, across time, are in conversation, borrowing and riffing off each other's ideas, and how art invites us to see the world in unexpected, and often moving, ways.