Der Zirkus 1943

Imre Reiner made this intaglio print of ‘Der Zirkus’ sometime in the mid-20th century, and it’s all about the mark-making, isn’t it? It’s like he’s carving out these figures from some collective dream. The figures have a brutal monumentality, but look closer and they are made up of hundreds of tiny, almost nervous, marks. See the face of the woman on the right? The use of cross-hatching gives it a deep, almost sculptural quality. The stark black and white palette amplifies the emotion, a kind of melancholic drama. It’s almost like a stage set for a play. Reiner’s work reminds me of other expressionist printmakers like Kathe Kollwitz, who used stark lines and shadows to depict human suffering. It’s all about the feelings, not the facts. Art is an ongoing conversation, and we’re all just adding our voices to the mix.