Smeltery c. 1940

Jolán Gross-Bettelheim made this lithograph, Smeltery, and it’s all about how marks can build a world. The stippling and hatching gives such a feeling of texture, it is almost as though you can reach out and feel the rough surfaces of the metal. There’s a real weight to the shadows here; you can almost hear the clang of metal and the hiss of steam. I love how the artist uses tiny marks to create a sense of depth and scale. It feels monumental. Look at the way the light catches on the sides of the smokestacks, how the linear perspective adds a sense of dynamism. There’s a touch of Piranesi in the way she renders architectural forms with such attention to detail. It’s like a dream of industry, both beautiful and a little bit scary. It reminds me of some of the German Expressionist prints from the same period, artists like Otto Dix or George Grosz, who were also grappling with the impact of industrialization on the human spirit. But Gross-Bettelheim brings her own unique vision to the subject.