Maelstrom 1943

Francis Sumner Merritt made this print called Maelstrom, sometime in the mid-20th century. Look at the vortex, the churning depths of the paper, how the forms emerge from the swirling lines and marks. It makes me think about how the work came into being, like a ship lost at sea in the face of some kind of disaster! I wonder what Merritt was thinking when they made this, staring into the abyss and trying to capture it. There's a real physicality to this print—the way the lines are etched into the surface. This reminds me of other artists who have grappled with this subject, like Goya, or more recently Peter Doig. You see the same idea—people being swept away! Merritt is in conversation with artists across time, isn't he? He is responding to the world in a particular way, seeing the chaos and trying to make sense of it through his mark-making. Like he is trying to make a painting, to give form to something elusive.