The Mystery of Earth (Book VIII: Mitya, facing p.284) 1949

Fritz Eichenberg made "The Mystery of Earth" as an illustration, though I don't know when. It’s so graphic, in the sense of a print, made with these stark contrasts, and it really captures a mood. The texture is so key here; you can see it particularly in that band of sky, how he’s built it up with tiny marks, like the night sky is almost a swarm, some kind of vibrant accumulation. Then you’ve got this single figure on the road, with the church in the distance. It’s like a Pilgrim's Progress kind of image, but the marks in the sky almost seem to be bearing down, enveloping them. Eichenberg's clearly working in the tradition of other artists who did illustrations for books, like Lynd Ward, but there’s something about the darkness and intensity here that feels very personal. It captures a sense of searching, with no easy answers, which makes it so compelling.