Untitled (Street Scene) 1944

Marion Miller made this compelling print, of what looks like a street scene, in 1944. The palette is almost entirely grey and black, and the marks look scratched onto the surface – almost like the artist was digging into the plate to bring forth the image. I imagine her working, intuitively responding to the material. The surface fizzes with energy! You get the sense of the artist making the picture, step by step, as she goes along. I wonder what Miller was thinking when she made this? Was she happy? Sad? Reflective? Those bold expressive marks, like the looming grey sky, are full of feeling and tell their own story. It's fascinating how artists are in constant dialogue, borrowing and building on each other's ideas across time. Painting, like any art form, is never truly finished, because it continues to speak to us anew each time we look at it.