(Bicyclists) Support the War Veterans 1931

Philip Reisman made this etching, Bicyclists Support the War Veterans, and honestly, the beauty is in the scratchiness. The image shimmers with these little hatched marks that create the scene, like a swarm of tiny bees building a hive. Look closely, and you’ll see how the physical process of etching – the scratching into the metal plate – becomes the very fabric of the image. The ink sits in those grooves, creating a velvety texture, a kind of visual buzz. See how the figures and bikes in the foreground have a density of line, while the background dissolves into a hazy suggestion. It’s a dance of focus and blur, presence and absence. This etching reminds me of the graphic work of Kathe Kollwitz. Both artists use the starkness of black and white to amplify the emotional weight of their subjects, making something raw and real, and leaving us to fill in the blanks.