Brashwood 

Ilarion Pleshynskyi, born in Ukraine, made this etching entitled ‘Brashwood’ at an unknown date. The image depicts a figure struggling through deep snow carrying a bundle of sticks, presumably for kindling. Pleshynskyi was a prolific book illustrator, stage designer and graphic artist who spent much of his career in exile. The fact that the date of this etching is unknown suggests he was not working within an established institutional framework at the time of its creation. We can surmise that it depicts rural life in Ukraine or elsewhere in the Eastern European region. The figure is alone, bent over and struggling, as perhaps the artist himself was. The lack of any clear narrative hints at the hard labor of the working classes, of the poor trying to survive. To understand this work better we might look at the history of Ukrainian printmaking, to understand how Pleshynskyi’s exile shaped his artistic output. This image is a poignant commentary on the difficult social conditions that shaped the lives of many during the early to mid-20th century.