Koe 1915 - 1940

Editor: So here we have "Koe," sometime between 1915 and 1940, a linocut by Tinus van Doorn held here at the Rijksmuseum. It's so striking in its starkness. It really captures…something untamed. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Untamed is spot-on. For me, it's this collision of pastoral serenity and…anxiety? Van Doorn has wrestled nature into these stark shapes – that angular cow, the jagged trees. There's a raw energy in this linocut, almost violent in its simplicity. Notice how the black ink bleeds slightly, like the landscape is about to devour the cow. It almost feels…prophetic given the looming war? What do you think of that? Editor: Prophetic? That’s intense! I hadn't thought about it that way, but seeing the period and the harshness of the lines…it makes a lot of sense. Is that why he used such a bold technique? Curator: I imagine the limited colors express the sentiment - stark and somber. He could’ve chosen soft charcoal, gentle watercolors, but this linocut screams with its contrasts, which is part of the expressionist vibe he's channeling. Perhaps the black and white palette also comments on the loss of nuance in an increasingly polarized world. What will stay with you from this work, now that you know more about it? Editor: I think I'll remember that clash – the peaceful scene undercut by this…frightening tension. The world is not always what it seems to be. Curator: Precisely! It's a whisper of chaos in the idyllic pasture. Always look for the whispers.