Flowers c. 1936

John P. Heins made this print, "Flowers," by carving into a block, inking it, and pressing it onto paper. I can imagine him carefully considering each cut, each line, deciding what to leave and what to take away. There’s a beautiful tension here between the stark black and white and the softness of the floral arrangement. The contrast makes the flowers seem almost luminous, like they're glowing against the dark background. I wonder if Heins was thinking about light and shadow, about how we see and perceive the world around us. The lines in the sea are so regular, which makes me think he might be into textiles or architecture. This piece reminds me of other artists who have explored the beauty of everyday objects, like Giorgio Morandi with his still lifes of bottles and jars, always seeing what others might miss. Artists are always in dialogue, riffing off each other, finding new ways to see the world.