Solar Flare-Up 1937

Rockwell Kent made this lithograph, Solar Flare-Up, with ink on paper. I like how the image is made by building up marks and lines. It’s like he’s constructing the scene bit by bit, revealing figures and a landscape at the same time. The texture is amazing, it reminds me of charcoal but with a much harder, finer quality. Look at the rays of light emanating from the sun. It looks like Kent used very fine, deliberate strokes that spread out across the paper. The stark contrast between light and shadow gives the scene a dramatic, almost biblical feel. The way the figures are rendered, with their smooth forms and classical poses, adds to this timeless quality. I find my eye is constantly drawn back to the contrast between the figures on the ground and the one standing. Kent's work reminds me of German Expressionist printmakers like Kathe Kollwitz, who also used stark contrasts and dramatic compositions to convey powerful emotions. Art is an ongoing conversation, isn't it?