Chaetodon visch 1892 - 1931

Henri Verstijnen created this woodcut of a Chaetodon Visch, or butterflyfish, using black ink to carve out these fantastic sweeping forms. What I love about woodcut, is you have to be both decisive and intuitive - there is no going back. Look at how the white lines cut into the black space create the shimmering scales of the fish, there is a real sense of movement as it glides through the water, or maybe it's just posing for us? Verstijnen used the negative space to build the scene, using texture to create the plants in the background with their delicate blades. There is something of Emil Nolde's graphic work in this piece, in the way that the artist uses a limited palette to explore a range of textures, and I am always drawn to prints that invite the viewer into an intimate, almost tactile experience.