The Imp (Book XI: Brother Ivan Fyodorovich, facing p.452) 1949

Fritz Eichenberg made this etching, featuring dense line work and a monochromatic palette, as an illustration for Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov." Look at the impish figure looming behind Ivan; its presence feels both internal and external. Eichenberg is using his mark-making to delve into the darkest recesses of the psyche. I wonder what he was thinking when he scratched those tiny, insistent lines into the metal plate? Was it a meditative process, or a frenzied act of creation? The way he builds up tone and texture with such delicate strokes reminds me of artists like Käthe Kollwitz, who also used printmaking to explore themes of suffering and social injustice. But there's also something distinctly personal in Eichenberg's work. Perhaps, like all artists, he found himself wrestling with his own demons as he brought these characters to life. In the end, it’s this very struggle that makes the work so compelling.