Stilleven before 1935

Lou Asperslagh etched this small still life, and it’s really something. The composition is simple: a skull perched on a book, a vase with thorny flowers, all rendered in a tight, monochromatic palette. I can imagine Asperslagh hunched over the plate, carefully building up the image with precise lines. The etching has a kind of raw, immediate feel. It’s like he's grappling with the subject matter right there on the plate. There's a strong contrast, which gives the image a striking sense of depth. The skull is so detailed; you can almost feel the texture of the bone, with tiny, sharp details in the flower. It really reminds me of other Dutch masters like Rembrandt who loved to explore light and shadow in their prints. There's a conversation happening across time. It's about life, death, and the beauty that exists even in the most unlikely places.