De ijsbeer 1894 - 1959

Gordinne made this print of a polar bear, also known as ‘De ijsbeer’ at the Rijksmuseum, using lines and hatching to create a sense of texture. It must have taken so much patience. I can almost feel the artist wrestling with the blank space, thinking about capturing the animal’s bulk and weight. Gordinne is working with a limited tonal range. Look at the way he uses delicate lines to suggest the soft, dense fur of the bear, while darker strokes create shadows that define its muscular form. Those little flecks evoke the animal’s powerful presence and its isolation in the Arctic. He uses such simple materials – ink and paper – but achieves such a compelling image. The inclusion of birds and a distant ship positions the bear in its environment, giving scale to the vast icy landscape. Maybe Gordinne was inspired by the work of other nature illustrators, or by scientific expeditions to the polar regions. I like to think of him as part of this ongoing conversation.