Skyscrapers 1926

Editor: This is "Skyscrapers," a woodcut print by Frans Masereel from 1926. The sharp angles and high contrast create such a stark, almost oppressive feeling, yet it's also fascinating. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The oppressive feeling you note resonates. I see echoes of both celebration and anxiety here, mirroring the dizzying pace of modernization in the early 20th century. The towering structures, simplified into geometric forms, suggest power and ambition. Yet the black and white, the hard edges…it hints at a loss of human scale. What do you make of the figure in the window? Editor: It looks like the person is overwhelmed, but perhaps also resigned. The city’s rhythms seemingly imprison him/her. I'm intrigued by the swirling motifs too. Are those supposed to be balloons, or some sort of industrial output? Curator: Consider those swirls as a kind of visual anxiety, a disruption of the hard geometry, or the pulse of modern life perhaps? Masereel, deeply impacted by the devastation of World War I, often explored themes of social alienation. I think the city itself, abstracted as it is, becomes a symbol of that. Do you think there’s any redemption? Editor: Maybe the suggestion of the sun—or is it some other machine—offers a glimmer of hope within this almost nightmarish scenario? Curator: Precisely. This sun symbol provides light amid all of these looming skyscrapers, as if piercing through the darkness, and allowing us a degree of hope amidst the shadows of the city. This has been eye-opening! Editor: Absolutely. It’s made me see the deeper symbolic layers within what I initially perceived as just an interesting cityscape.