Ice House c. 1935 - 1943

Nan Lurie made this print, "Ice House," using strokes and marks to evoke a scene that feels both solid and on the verge of dissolving. It's like she’s feeling out the forms. There's a real push-pull here in the textures. The way the watery foreground is rendered with these quick, almost scribbled lines, against the heavier, more defined shapes of the car and building. It’s as if everything is sinking, but the marks feel light, like they could float away. Notice how the roofline of the building seems to sag, mirrored by the slump of the fabric draped over the car. There's a sense of weariness, of things yielding to time. It reminds me a bit of Käthe Kollwitz, not just in the subject matter but in the way Lurie uses the printmaking process to convey something deeply human and ephemeral. Both artists share a knack for finding beauty in the ordinary and a willingness to embrace ambiguity.