Nieuwe zee der kunsten - 30 Possibly 1905

This woodblock print, Nieuwe zee der kunsten - 30, was made by Furuya Kōrin in Japan. I love the shapes in this image! It’s such a beautiful arrangement of text and image. I imagine Kōrin carefully carving away at the woodblock, and the way the image emerges from the surface must have been so satisfying. I am drawn to the dark tendrils that surround the rectangle of text; they look so fragile yet powerful, kinda like how I feel when I’m painting. It’s fascinating to see how Kōrin balances the organic and the geometric, the spontaneous and the controlled. It kinda reminds me of Matisse's cut-outs, where he uses simple shapes to create dynamic compositions, but with that elegant touch of Japanese design. Artists are always looking at each other's work, riffing, and remixing! And that's the beauty of painting, right? It's an ongoing conversation.