Corn Husking (right panel) 1935

This is Helen West Heller’s “Corn Husking (right panel),” a linocut print made in 1938. The crisp graphic shapes in black ink make the composition seem both immediate and iconic, as if an illustration from an old book. I wonder if Heller spent hours sketching farmers in the field to capture this everyday scene so perfectly. The composition is really sophisticated. The diagonal lines in the bottom right lead your eye to the farmer, before swooping upwards through the corn and into the sky. There's so much activity buzzing around; it could be a metaphor for the abundance of life that harvest represents. There are other printmakers who played with similar graphic languages, like Jacob Lawrence, but Heller’s print is unique. What is so beautiful about the work is the human quality, the feeling that the artist had a deep feeling for rural life. It reminds me of a folk song. Artists are always working in conversation with one another and with the world around them.