The Table - Study No. 5 1947

Fannie Hillsmith made “The Table - Study No. 5” with a plate and sheet sometime during her career. It’s a print, so all those marks and textures are not just drawn, but kind of grown, through the process of acid etching. I like how Hillsmith creates this grid of tonal variations, the push and pull between dark and light. Look at the way the table itself is represented – it’s not just a flat surface, but a collection of shapes and lines. It’s like she's taken the idea of a table apart and reassembled it in her own way. The surface feels almost geological, like looking at different strata of rock. In this piece, Hillsmith shares something with Joan Miro, or even Marsden Hartley – a love for simple forms, but combined with a very personal sense of space and structure. Ultimately, art is about having a conversation across time and space.