Staande maraboe 1884 - 1952

This woodcut of a marabou stork was made by Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries. I love how he has captured a certain kind of stillness. I imagine De Vries carefully carving away at the woodblock to achieve this effect. He's using such a restricted palette – basically black, white, and yellow for the beak – which adds to the graphic quality. It makes me think about Japanese prints, where less is more. Look at how the stark contrast creates a sort of moodiness in the bird's stance. I wonder if he was thinking about capturing a specific feeling of solitude or contemplation. You know, making a print is always a dance between intention and accident, and the texture you get from the wood grain is just gorgeous. This piece reminds us that art is all about seeing and feeling, and that the simplest forms can sometimes say the most.