Untitled (Defiant Man) 1945

Eugene Karlin made this lithograph, Untitled (Defiant Man), without a date, using monochromatic colours to create strong contrasts between light and shadow. I can imagine him in his studio, wrestling with the stone to achieve these tonal gradations, shifting back and forth, adding more pressure here, less there, until, through trial, error and intuition, the defiant man emerges. I sympathize with Karlin. What was he thinking when he made this? I wonder if he saw himself in this figure consumed by flames, fist raised in protest. The texture, the hatching, it all seems like a means to an end. The image is more important. It feels like a narrative – the hero emerging from the fire, rising up against adversity. It reminds me of other artists, maybe Kathe Kollwitz, Käthe or Francisco Goya, who also felt compelled to use art as a form of political expression. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring each other’s creativity across time, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty. It allows for multiple interpretations beyond any fixed or definitive reading.