Dwarsdoorsnede van gebouw 1894 - 1933

Philipp Bauknecht made this woodcut, Dwarsdoorsnede van gebouw, at an unknown date. Doesn't this print feel like a stage set, a theater of the everyday? I can imagine Bauknecht carving away at the wood block, each cut defining a room, a story, a moment frozen in time. The stark contrast of black and white gives it such intensity. Look at the figures, almost like silhouettes, moving through the house. What were they thinking? What were their days like? The guy hauling a bucket on the top floor… maybe he’s getting water for the household. The others on the floor below him look like they are dancing! The beauty of art, right? It invites us to project ourselves into the frame, to fill in the blanks with our own narratives, our own feelings. And isn't that what art is all about? An ongoing conversation across time, a shared space of imagination.