Lamentation [recto] 1950

Benton Spruance made this lithograph, Lamentation, and it’s full of heavy blacks and grays, capturing what looks like three figures in various states of grief. Imagine Spruance bent over the lithographic stone, carefully etching away at the surface. I can almost feel the pressure of his hand, guided by a somber vision. The leftmost figure has their head in their hands, like a statue of pure anguish. The central figure's downcast gaze invites us to share in her sorrow, while the figure on the right throws herself into the natural world for solace. There's a way this composition reminds me of Picasso's Guernica, maybe it's the shared mood of devastation and loss that carries across despite being different. You know, artists are always in conversation with each other, across time, borrowing, stealing, and transforming ideas. Spruance’s Lamentation is a powerful reminder that art is a way for us to express our deepest emotions, turning ambiguity into something we can all relate to.