Naakt paar onder een boom bekeken door een rund 1879 - 1932

Adolf Herstein made this etching, *Naakt paar onder een boom bekeken door een rund*, or *Naked Couple Under a Tree Observed by a Cow*, with ink on paper. Herstein’s process here is all about building up tone and texture through these tiny, scratchy marks. Look at the way he renders the cow's hide, it's so rich and dark, built from thousands of little dashes. There's a real physicality to this piece. You can imagine the artist’s hand moving across the plate, digging into the surface. I love the ambiguity here, is the cow a voyeur, or just a curious bystander? The way he uses the etching technique creates a sense of depth and atmosphere, but it also feels immediate. It reminds me a bit of Paula Modersohn-Becker, not necessarily in style, but in the way they both approached the nude figure with this kind of raw, honest gaze. It's like we're invited to witness a private moment, but from a slightly skewed perspective, like the cow. Art’s not about answers, it's about opening up questions.