Two A.M. 1942

Cooper Nott Lansing made this stone lithograph, Two A.M., at some point during his career. The limited palette, all grayscale, gives a real sense of urgency to the piece, which suits the subject matter of firemen battling a blaze. It's like seeing something snatched from a dream. The texture here is all about the varying densities of marks. I can almost feel the scratch of the lithographic crayon on the stone, the way he’s built up tone in certain areas and left others raw. Look at the frantic energy of the marks around the roof of the building! It’s like the whole scene is vibrating with heat and adrenaline. That one figure at the top of the ladder, swinging a hammer – he’s caught mid-action, a flurry of marks around him. He’s balanced between chaos and control, which strikes me as similar to how I feel when I am making a painting. There is always an element of control and chaos! Lansing's style reminds me a bit of other American scene painters like Reginald Marsh, who were also interested in capturing the drama of everyday life. Both explore the balance between realistic depiction and expressive mark-making. It’s a reminder that art is always a conversation, a way of seeing and interpreting the world through the lens of our own experiences.