Street Scene 1939

A. Grant Arnold made this print of a street scene; it looks like it was done with lithography. Just imagine the artist drawing on that stone, building the scene up from dark to light. I feel for this artist, trying to capture the stillness of the night. He probably stood out on the street in the evening, squinting at the dim glow of the streetlamps. I wonder if he was thinking about Edward Hopper, or maybe some of the Ashcan School guys. You can almost hear the hum of the city, the distant rumble of a car engine, and the lonely footsteps of a person walking home. I love the way Arnold has handled the shadows, especially how they soften the edges of buildings. These darks and lights invite you to imagine a story, and the people and places inhabiting it. It's like he's inviting us to wander around, to think about what the street means to us, and to add our own narrative to the mix.