Ajax 1932

This lithograph, Ajax, was made by John Steuart Curry in 1932 and the whole thing is teeming with life. Look at that big, muscular bull, so solid and still, but he's also got these little birds on his back. The whole scene is made up of the tiniest marks that together create all this richness. I wonder what Curry was thinking when he made this? Maybe he saw the bull as a symbol of strength, but also of the land and the hard work of farming. And the birds, maybe they're a sign of freedom or a reminder that even the strongest creatures need a little help sometimes. I feel the physicality of the drawing in all those tiny lines, that create different textures, from the rough fur of the bull to the soft grass under his feet. Curry's work often shows scenes of rural life and the American Midwest. He's part of a group of artists, like Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood, who were trying to capture something real about America in their art. They were all looking at each other's work, riffing, responding and imagining. Because that's what artists do; we keep the conversation going. Each artwork builds on the last. And that is just so beautiful, isn't it?