Spiral 1934

Anton Prinner made this intaglio print, Spiral, with lines and shapes that seem to float across a night sky. The scratchy, mottled surface gives the work an aged feel, like a newly discovered astronomical chart. The plate making process is clearly visible in the variations in tone. Look at the way the stars are solid at their centers, before dissolving into hazy, comet-like tails. The overlapping circles seem to shift and vibrate in space, an effect emphasized by the small halo at the center of each. The dark palette makes me think of Ad Reinhardt, who famously said that painting black paintings was the only way to paint at all. Like Reinhardt, Prinner isn't interested in easy answers. Instead, the image is an open-ended invitation to contemplate the cosmos and our place within it.