Joseph and His Brothers VI 1966

Peter Lipman-Wulf made this print, Joseph and His Brothers VI, using delicate, sepia-toned lines to depict a poignant biblical scene. It feels like a memory, or a faded photograph, doesn't it? The lines are so precise, almost etched into the paper, giving the figures a sculptural quality. Look at the way Joseph's body is rendered, the gentle curve of his neck, the vulnerability in his posture. The embrace of the figure behind him, the camels looming in the background – everything is rendered with such care. And then, that block of text. The writing has a rough, almost primitive quality. The whole composition is about contrasting textures and tones, between the smooth skin of the figures and the rough texture of the background. It's like Lipman-Wulf is saying that even in moments of deep suffering, there's a strange kind of beauty, a kind of truth, to be found. The vulnerability of the piece reminds me of the work of Kathe Kollwitz. And in both artists, we see art as a process of bearing witness, of giving form to the things that haunt us.