I Foretell You the Time of Great Blessing and the Bounty of the Evening 1957

Benton Spruance made this lithograph, "I Foretell You the Time of Great Blessing and the Bounty of the Evening," using stone and grease. The mark making is just gorgeous, ranging from soft gradients to sharp, almost scratchy lines, the kind you get when you’re really digging into the surface. Looking closely, I see how Spruance uses the texture to create depth and atmosphere. The horses in the foreground, they’re rendered with these dense, solid blacks, while the figure inside the strange structure behind them, has a much lighter touch, like a ghost. And that bird skull looming overhead? It’s all about contrast. The way the light catches the bony structure creates this really unsettling effect. It's like a symbol of mortality hanging over this scene of potential abundance. For me, there's something of Kathe Kollwitz in this print, particularly in the emotional intensity and the use of chiaroscuro to create drama. It's a conversation, a dance between artists across time. There is a sense of mystery to it all; a feeling that you are entering into a space of ambiguous meaning.