Horse and hedgehog 1913

Franz Marc made this fantastic woodcut, Horse and Hedgehog, sometime around the early 20th century. Look at the way he's wrestled with the black and white—the stark contrast gives it a real punch, doesn't it? You can feel Marc thinking through the process, each cut a decision, a step forward. The whole image is broken down into these bold, graphic shapes. See how the horse's body is all curves and spots, a real contrast with the sharp lines of the landscape? And then there's the hedgehog, almost hidden amongst the foliage, made up of these short, choppy strokes. I love the way these marks aren't trying to hide the process. It's like Marc is saying, "Here's the thing, and here's how I got there." It reminds me a bit of some of the later work of Emil Nolde, that same raw, expressive quality, that willingness to let the material speak for itself. Art is so often a conversation across time, isn't it? And thank goodness there is no fixed meaning!