Drie gerstaren tegen egale achtergrond c. 1900 - 1940

Richard Tepe made this photogravure, 'Three Barley Ears Against a Plain Background', sometime between 1880 and 1920. It's fascinating how Tepe coaxes so much from a muted palette. The subtle gradations of tone, from the creamy highlights on the stalks to the deep, velvety shadows of the background, give the image a tactile quality. You can almost feel the rough texture of the barley and the smoothness of the paper. Look closely at how the light catches the delicate, threadlike awns, they remind me of paint strokes. Tepe has arranged the ears of barley so that their lines converge and diverge, creating a dynamic composition within the quiet stillness of the subject matter. It is like he’s almost playing with abstraction. Tepe’s contemporary, Karl Blossfeldt, springs to mind – another artist finding endless inspiration in the natural world. Both artists remind us that art is an ongoing conversation, a way of seeing and thinking that unfolds over time. It’s an ambiguous space, where fixed meanings dissolve into a multiplicity of interpretations.