Zeilschip in een baai 1922

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this piece, *Zeilschip in een baai,* sometime around 1920, using etching to create these wonderfully stark contrasts. Imagine the artist scraping away at the plate, line by line, with such care and precision. I wonder if Schelfhout was thinking about other printmakers, like Rembrandt perhaps, who also captured light and shadow with such intensity. There’s a real drama in the silhouette of that tree against the sky, and how it frames the boat sailing into the distance. That little sailboat bobbing in the bay, it almost feels like a stand-in for the artist, navigating the waters of their own creative process. I imagine he felt a kinship with the sailor setting off into the unknown; each of them embarking on a journey, guided by intuition and experience, toward some distant horizon. And the spiky plants at the bottom — are they guarding the scene? Or ushering us in? It reminds me that art isn't made in a vacuum; we're all in conversation with each other, riffing on ideas, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.