Fortune Teller 1954

Curator: Let's pause here at Benton Spruance's lithograph, "Fortune Teller," created in 1954. Editor: Well, my first thought is it feels ghostly. The cool blue monochrome gives it a real sense of detachment. It's like a faded photograph, barely clinging to existence. Curator: I think that's quite insightful. Spruance was deeply engaged with social commentary, often exploring themes of fate and existential anxiety. The fortune teller, with her hidden face, is almost like a conduit for those anxieties. It’s a bit unsettling, isn't it? Editor: Absolutely. And look at the technique; it's a lithograph, a process relying on the tension between grease and water, applied to a stone. The artist creates an image with a greasy crayon and then...magic. It emphasizes the hand of the maker. Curator: And the way he's incorporated geometric forms almost feels like a stage set, distancing the figure. Notice the blank rectangles stacked above her head? Very interesting way to block the pictorial space. Editor: Yes, the rectangles suggest this is all staged or constructed. This kind of printmaking would have involved the stone itself and probably several collaborators along the way to get to the image. Do you think she even believes her own predictions? Or maybe, like so much labor, fortune telling is about sales? Curator: Oh, a very provocative point. Maybe the blank gaze, created with this particular technique and ink, reminds us that it may just be a performance. Maybe that's what adds to the eeriness, the doubt, as this "teller" casts doubt on her craft? Editor: Exactly. Curator: Seeing it again, the piece carries a double edge. Editor: And maybe we could add one other final consideration regarding "craft." Let's not lose sight of that materiality of the ink and its social and labor dimension either, given it can serve both art and industry!