Sacrifice of Iphigenia, No.1 1956

Peter Grippe made this print, Sacrifice of Iphigenia, No. 1, by cutting into a metal plate. The image emerges through a network of lines, which seem to multiply and swarm over the surface. It’s a real workout for your eyes, trying to disentangle the forms from the mass of tiny marks. I’m drawn to the bottom left of the image, where a few, short lines come together to describe a face. The head is tilted back, mouth open in a silent scream, the whole figure in terrible distress. The texture and layering make it hard to work out exactly what’s happening, but maybe that’s the point? Grippe’s Sacrifice makes me think of Goya's prints, particularly his Disasters of War. Like Goya, Grippe manages to convey a sense of chaos, violence, and suffering. Art doesn’t always have to be pretty, sometimes it can show us the tough stuff, and help us feel it too.