River Lullaby 1947

Geno Pettit made this print, River Lullaby, using blocks of color to create the image. The marks are flat and there is a real interest in the relationship between shapes. For Pettit, artmaking feels like a process of layering and building, kinda like how a song comes together. I love how the colors aren’t blended but bump up against each other, creating edges that are both soft and sharp. It gives the piece a tactile quality, as if you could feel the different layers of ink. Look at the waves, they create this rhythm that’s both calming and a little unsettling. It's easy to feel a connection to the whole scene through those marks. Thinking about other artists, maybe someone like Marsden Hartley, who also had this interest in folk art and simplified forms, comes to mind. But Pettit has a tenderness that's all his own, a lullaby in color and shape. What does this piece mean? That's for you to work out.