Lithograph #5 (Gas Factory) 1928

William Samuel Schwartz made this lithograph of a gas factory. It's just black and white; a factory scene rendered with geometric forms. What strikes me is how the artist probably stood right there to capture this scene, observing carefully, maybe even shivering in the cold, his fingers freezing, his eyes darting around, absorbing all this. He's not trying to trick us with the illusion of depth, but rather show us how all this can be translated with lines. He wasn’t interested in showing off his skills, more his eye, you know? There’s something gutsy about how he’s making it up as he goes, that you can see his thinking. The way the light and shadow hit the factory buildings, rendered as jagged planes, reminds me of other modernist painters, like Lyonel Feininger, but more urban, more gritty. There is a conversation going on between artists, a constant exchange of ideas, inspiring each other across time. You can see how painting is a way of feeling, experiencing, and interpreting the world.