Untitled (Defiant Man) 1945

Eugene Karlin made this untitled drawing, probably on paper, with graphite or charcoal. You can almost feel the making of the marks, right? The lines are laid down so assuredly. There's this incredible tension between the figure and the flames, or maybe they're feathers, that surround him. See how the artist lets the white of the paper breathe through the dark lines. It's like the form is emerging right before your eyes. Then there's the contrast between the smoothness of the figure's face and the jagged edges of the flames. The raised fist is a bold statement, but it's also vulnerable, almost like a question mark. Karlin's work reminds me of some of the surrealist illustrators like Max Ernst or Leonora Carrington, who used a similar combination of realism and fantasy to explore the depths of the human psyche. Art is a conversation, and Karlin is adding his voice to the mix.