Xmas 43 1943

Wilmer Angier Jennings made this woodcut, Xmas 43, in 1943. Look at how he’s carved away at the block to leave these strong black lines, there’s a real sense of craft, of someone grappling with the material to tease out the image. It's all there in the contrasts: black and white, light and dark. You can almost feel the artist pressing the paper onto the block, transferring every groove and cut. The candle is a real focal point, but then you spot the mask to the left, kind of mournful, and the little cannon which is a strange addition to this scene. It makes you wonder about the personal meaning behind the image. It suggests that beneath the surface of the usual holiday cheer there are always complex feelings and sometimes difficult truths. This piece reminds me a little of the graphic work of someone like Max Beckmann, who also had a way of turning the everyday into something a bit unsettling. Art is always about asking questions rather than giving easy answers.