Een leerling van 1908 - Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita
Archival giclée
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Description
A striking 1908 woodcut portrait by Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, featuring a student in profile rendered with bold lines and high contrast.
Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita was a Dutch graphic artist known for his technical precision and mastery of the woodcut medium. This portrait, titled 'Een leerling van 1908', demonstrates his ability to reduce a subject to its essential graphic components. The composition features a student in profile, seated and captured with a stark economy of line that is characteristic of the artist's work during this period.
The image relies on a bold contrast between the dark, ink-heavy areas of the subject's clothing and the unprinted paper of the background. De Mesquita employs a simplified aesthetic, where the contours of the figure are defined by clean, decisive lines. The chair back is rendered with a series of parallel, rhythmic marks that provide a sense of texture without disrupting the overall flatness of the design. This approach reflects the influence of Japanese woodblock prints, which were widely admired by European artists at the turn of the century for their clarity and structural discipline.
De Mesquita often focused on the psychological presence of his subjects, using minimal detail to convey character. In this print, the student's posture and expression are conveyed through the subtle curvature of the spine and the precise delineation of the facial features. The work is signed and dated in the lower corner, typical of the artist's meticulous approach to his editions. As a practitioner of the graphic arts, De Mesquita maintained a focus on the physical qualities of the woodblock, allowing the grain and the resistance of the material to inform the final appearance of the print. This piece remains a clear example of his contribution to early twentieth-century Dutch printmaking, showing a balance between decorative form and representational accuracy.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Een leerling van 1908 - Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita
Artist Biography
Samuel Jessurun De Mesquita
He was born in Amsterdam in 1868, of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin. He trained there and was appointed teacher at the School of Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem in 1902, where he remained until 1926. Escher was his most famous student; it was De Mesquita who convinced the young Escher to abandon architecture for graphic arts, a decision that changed twentieth-century visual culture.
De Mesquita produced over four hundred prints, including woodcuts, wood engravings, etchings and lithographs, plus drawings and textile designs. His animal and bird woodcuts, with their stark black-and-white stylisation influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e, are among his most distinctive work. He was not religiously observant despite his Sephardic community background. His wife Elisabeth was gassed alongside him at Auschwitz; their son Jaap perished at Theresienstadt a month later. He died at Auschwitz, around 11 February 1944, at seventy-five.
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