Bonenstaken 1892 - 1928

This small print, "Bonenstaken," by Johannes Löhr, is teeming with tightly bunched foliage rendered in a dense network of dark, scratchy lines. I can imagine him working on the plate, perhaps outdoors, squinting at the scene through narrowed eyes, translating the lushness of a garden into a flurry of etched marks. The image is filled with plant life, mostly dark, with a few buildings nestled within. I can imagine Löhr wanting to capture nature, perhaps also commenting on nature taking over human spaces. I love the ways artists make choices, like choosing to make the natural or built world the subject of their work. How cool is that? Artists are always in conversation with one another through art, and painting, like any art form, is an exploration of the medium itself, and what it can do. Each work embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.