North Shore 1952

Morris Atkinson Blackburn made 'North Shore' with lithographic ink on paper and plate. Imagine Blackburn hunched over the lithographic stone in his studio, working late into the night. Maybe the moon that shines in the print was the same moon lighting his workspace. The texture is amazing; look how he contrasted the grainy darkness of the night sky with the smooth, almost luminous surface of the moon. The composition feels both carefully constructed and wonderfully accidental, the way the shapes bump up against each other. I sympathize with the artist. I, too, am on a constant search for the perfect balance of light and dark, order and chaos. I know this feeling! I can almost see him, his brow furrowed in concentration, as he coaxes the image out of the stone. It has the feel of, say, Whistler's nocturnes, but Blackburn is doing his own thing, thinking about the structures of the docks. Painting is a conversation, and the best art makes you want to grab a brush, a stone, and join in.