Droomachtig tafereel 1919

Bernard Willem Wierink made this print, called 'Droomachtig tafereel', which translates as 'Dreamy scene', sometime around the turn of the century. The limited palette of browns and blues lends it a sepia-toned, antique feel that I love. Check out the figure hovering in the upper right, framed by those vertical bars. Is it a window? A watery curtain? It almost looks like a reference to Symbolist painters like Klimt or Moreau, who were interested in dreams, the unconscious, and the mysterious. Wierink seems to be thinking about how we use images to construct different ways of seeing the world, and maybe he’s also suggesting that art is an ongoing conversation. Think about the swirling figures trapped within the circle. Like a dream, the image is ephemeral, inviting multiple interpretations.