Death is a Small Child c. 1950s

Harold Persico Paris made this intense and thought-provoking print, "Death is a Small Child," using the stark contrast of black ink on paper. With the look of a woodcut, it feels raw and immediate. Look at the way Paris uses solid blacks against whites to create a high contrast image. The figures emerge from the darkness, their forms defined by sharp lines and dense shadows. The texture of the print suggests the physical effort involved in carving the image into a block, a process of removal and reduction. See how the starkness of the black and white emphasizes the emotional weight of the subject matter. The anguished faces, the shrouded figures, and the central image of the child, all rendered in this unforgiving medium, feel both vulnerable and powerful. It reminds me a bit of Käthe Kollwitz, another artist who used printmaking to explore themes of grief and social injustice. Art isn't about easy answers, but about grappling with the complexities of the human experience, and sometimes the simplest forms can speak the loudest.