Seated Figure 1947

Paul Keene made this ‘Seated Figure’ by cutting into a block in 1947. It’s just black and white, but so graphic and alive! I love the feeling of the blade going in and out of the block, the figure emerging from the background, or maybe dissolving into it. The artist is really feeling the push and pull of the material, right? What was Keene thinking as he carved this? I imagine he was thinking about the contrast of textures, the dark and light spaces around the seated figure, about the play of pattern and form. Check out the way the figure’s dress blends into the chair, and then into the wall. It’s like a puzzle where the pieces almost fit, but not quite. In some ways, it reminds me of the German Expressionist woodcuts of Kirchner and Heckel, but it also stands on its own. Artists like Keene are forever responding to one another, building on what came before. It’s all one big, beautiful conversation.