Hatchery 1962

Jerome Kaplan created this lithograph titled Hatchery using black ink. I imagine Kaplan working on the stone, scraping and scratching away at the surface, the image emerging slowly from the darkness. You can see the process of mark-making in the dense build-up of dark ink, and the contrast between these dark areas and the bare paper. I can feel the physical effort that went into creating this print. I wonder what Kaplan was thinking about while he was making this work. I see something like a dilapidated wooden structure surrounded by a field of dense vegetation. The overall effect is one of decay and abandonment. Kaplan’s Hatchery shares something with the dark and brooding landscapes of painters like Gerhard Richter or even Anselm Kiefer, who were also interested in exploring themes of history, memory, and loss through the materiality of paint. It's all about the conversation between artists, right? Ultimately, the meaning of this work is open to interpretation.