Moonlight 1926

Wanda Gág made this print called 'Moonlight' with lithographic crayon on paper. I imagine her working at night, like a kid with a flashlight under the covers! Look how she’s built the image with these tiny marks, layering and overlapping the crayon to create these deep, dark tones. You can almost feel her hand moving across the stone, building up the shadows, the landscape, bit by bit. What a patient act of seeing and mark-making. The whole thing is a little spooky, a little magical. You can almost hear the night sounds of crickets and owls. It makes me think of other artists who were drawn to the night, like Albert Pinkham Ryder, or even Marsden Hartley. They all tapped into this kind of mystical, slightly melancholic feeling. What do you hear and feel when you look at this print? Ultimately, art is about feeling and sensing. And those feelings and senses change over time, so keep coming back to this and see what emerges.