Joseph and His Brothers XVIII 1966

Peter Lipman-Wulf's print, Joseph and His Brothers XVIII, is a deeply felt rendering of grief made using etching or engraving techniques. It's a tonal work, using the subtle gradations of light and dark that you get with printmaking. Look at how the artist has built up the image through layers of tiny marks. This feels like an attempt to reconstruct memory, piece by piece, as if each line is a fragment of something lost. The figure's face, with its pronounced lines and mournful expression, is particularly striking. The tears are rendered almost like jewels, each one a tiny facet reflecting a larger sorrow. Notice how the hands are held up, as if warding off a blow, or perhaps shielding the eyes from a terrible sight. The somber tone of this work reminds me of Kathe Kollwitz’s prints, both artists share that capacity to convey human suffering with great empathy. This print, like all great art, invites us to contemplate the complexities of human emotion and the ways in which we grapple with loss and regret.