The Story of Jonah 1955

Fritz Eichenberg made this print, ‘The Story of Jonah,’ using wood engraving to tell his tale. The black and white is so stark, right? It gives this biblical scene a real sense of drama, like a scene from a silent movie. Look closely, and you can see how Eichenberg used his tools to carve away at the wood, leaving these tiny lines and textures that create so much depth. I love how the waves churn and the whale looms, all with such graphic intensity. It’s like he's wrestling with the material, pushing it to its limits to capture this epic story. The light emanating from the all-seeing eye is amazing. And the way Jonah emerges from the belly of the beast, it's as if he’s being reborn, or like he's coming out of a dark tunnel. Eichenberg’s work reminds me of other artists, like Käthe Kollwitz, who used printmaking to explore themes of struggle and resilience. There’s a timeless quality to these images, a reminder that art can be a powerful way to grapple with the big questions.