Death Overtakes a Retreating Army c. 1938

Edward Hagedorn made this etching, 'Death Overtakes a Retreating Army,' using a metal plate to achieve this eerie yet simple black-and-white print. It's amazing how such basic materials can convey so much about life and death, isn't it? I’m struck by the contrast of textures here. The skeleton’s bones are so smooth and bulbous, but underneath the retreating army is rendered as a mass of tiny, frantic lines. These marks, made by scratching into a metal plate, are so simple but charged with meaning. Look how the skeleton's limbs stretch across the page, like it's a puppet master pulling the strings of mortality. The way Hagedorn uses line and form reminds me a little of Otto Dix, another artist who wasn't afraid to confront the darker aspects of human existence. It's a conversation across time, where artists grapple with the big questions and leave us with images that haunt and challenge us. It's a print that really lingers in your mind.