Standing Room Only c. 1930s

Leonard Pytlak made this print called Standing Room Only, using lithography, we think sometime in the mid-20th century. Look at how Pytlak layers these blues and browns, almost like he’s building up a memory. The marks aren’t fussy; they’re direct, like he’s sketching a fleeting moment. The texture isn’t about smoothness, it’s got this cool, gritty feel, especially in the darker blues that gives the sense of a crowd pressed together, shoulder to shoulder. Check out the way he uses these colours to create depth, how these colours aren't blended so the layering makes it feel like it's moving, like the colours are vibrating. It reminds me a bit of some of the early German Expressionist prints, where they’re using colour to express a feeling, not just to describe what’s there. It’s this lovely reminder that art is often more about feeling and less about seeing. It is an embrace of ambiguity, and an invitation to bring our own experiences to the table.