Leeuwenmonument van Luzern 1895 - 1910

This monochrome print shows a monument. An anonymous artist made it, and the marks are a study in texture. Light and shadow become tangible. Think about the lion, the way it’s carved out of stone but somehow looks soft, defeated. The artist shows the physicality of the medium. Look at the way the stone face is rendered; you can almost feel the roughness, the weight. The deep blacks contrast with the smooth lion. Then I think about Goya, another artist who knew how to use dark and light to express, to capture the drama of the everyday. Like Goya, this artist wasn’t afraid of ambiguity; he embraced it, inviting us to bring our own interpretations to the surface.