Apprehension 1942

Irving Amen made this print, maybe sometime in the mid-20th century, with black ink on paper. The people below are all looking up, past towering shards, at the sky, which is rendered with dense hatching. It’s an unnerving vision! I can imagine Amen working at the block, digging out the white parts to describe the light—like a sculptor, almost. What were the people looking at? Is it hope? Is it the end? I can imagine what it might have been like to create this—the kind of focused, almost obsessive energy that comes from an anxious place, where the hand is trying to exorcize some kind of angst. I always wonder what artists learn from each other. Artists are in conversation, even if they're not aware of it. "Apprehension" makes me think of other artists who explore darkness and light, anxiety and hope, and who give us the feeling of being alive in uncertain times.