The Music (De muziek) – Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (c. 1920) – Art Deco Canvas Print

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita’s The Music presents music as an almost mystical, embodied presence. A solitary woman stands in a long, flowing gown, her hands held across her chest and her face lifted in an expression of quiet concentration. Behind her, curtains of fine vertical lines radiate outward and downward, creating the impression of sound, vibration, or musical harmony surrounding the figure. The stark black-and-white palette and extreme simplification of form give the composition a powerful graphic presence.

De Mesquita was one of the Netherlands’ most distinctive early modernist printmakers, and The Music demonstrates his remarkable ability to turn a simple figure into an elaborate decorative design. The geometric framing, rhythmic linework, dramatic negative space, and stylized figure place the work comfortably within the Art Nouveau-to-Art Deco transition, while the almost architectural composition anticipates the geometric abstraction of the 1920s. The Rijksmuseum identifies the work as a woodcut and records its subject as Musica, the classical personification of music.

 

🖨️ Print features:

– Sustainable canvas stretched on radial pine frame

– Unique canvas coating for top-notch image quality

– Soft rubber dots on bottom back corners for support

– Safe latex inks for non-toxic printing

– Back hanging included

– Inner frame made with radiata pine sourced from renewable forests

– Please note: Due to the production process of the canvases, please allow for slight size deviations with a tolerance +/- 1/8″ (3.2mm)

– Care instructions: If the canvas does gather any dust, you may wipe it off gently with a clean, damp cloth.

 

🚚 Fulfillment, Shipping, and Return Policy:

– Printed and shipped from the U.S.

– As our items are unique and made to order, we can only accept a return or exchange in the event that an item arrives damaged or misprinted. We cannot accept returns if you order the wrong size or change your mind. Any return requests must be made within 14 days of receiving the order.

 

💬 Questions? Looking for something else, or want something in a different size? Feel free to reach out anytime; we’ll see what we can do!