Moonlight 1926

Wanda Gág made this print, Moonlight, using lithographic crayon and ink. It’s all about process, isn't it? You can almost feel her hand moving back and forth, building up the darks, leaving the paper peeking through to create a feeling of light. Look at the texture! The paper is alive with tiny marks, a field of energy. It's interesting how the composition draws you in, from the foreground with its humble bowl, through the gate, and into the fields, toward those distant hills. The moon is like a little eye in the sky, with the clouds swirling around it like smoke. Gág seems like she’s having a conversation with artists like Käthe Kollwitz, who used printmaking to explore themes of social justice and human experience. Both artists understood how to make a simple mark carry a lot of emotional weight. Art is never really about answers; it’s more about questions.