Man with Cow and Goat 1916

Heinrich Campendonk made this woodcut, Man with Cow and Goat, and while the date is unknown, its bold blacks and whites have a timeless appeal. It’s like he's carving away at the world to reveal something primal underneath. The materiality is all about the contrast. The stark black ink against the bare paper makes the image jump out. Look closely, and you'll see the way he used different tools to create varied textures. Those fine lines that suggest the man's face and clothing are so precise, juxtaposed against the chunkier shapes of the animals. It’s as if he's saying something about the tension between humanity and nature. Campendonk was part of the Blue Rider group, and you can see that influence in his use of simple forms to express complex ideas. This piece reminds me of work by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, who also used woodcuts to capture the raw energy of modern life. Art is always a conversation; we make marks, and others respond, and the dialogue continues.