Illustration to Voltaire, "Candide" 1948

This is an illustration to Voltaire's "Candide" made by Imre Reiner in 1948. The image is built from dark hatching marks, like a dense thicket. The scene is somehow nightmarish; two figures loom up out of the page, with another tiny man waving his arms in alarm behind them. I imagine Reiner hunched over his plate, digging into the metal, pulling up these inky, nervous lines. What was he thinking about as he made this image? Was he laughing darkly, or was he in despair? Look at the way the figure on the right seems to be staring right at us, its huge eye bulging. The lines are pulled up, as if out of the very depths of the subconscious. I feel a connection with Reiner, thinking about all the other artists who have taken up the mantle, wrestling with their materials to bring forth these images, carrying on the endless conversation of art across time.