Anabasis 1957

Benton Spruance made this lithograph, Anabasis, using stones to transfer the image onto paper; a real hands-on process. I love how the limited palette of tan and brown creates a sense of timelessness, like an ancient scroll. Look at the texture. Spruance uses a range of mark-making techniques, from broad, sweeping strokes to delicate, scratchy lines. It's almost sculptural, isn’t it? There is a really beautiful area of loose marks and dashes at the bottom right of the work that almost dissolve into pure energy. They seem to pull the whole composition forward, a way of keeping things in motion. Spruance's work reminds me a little of Kathe Kollwitz, another artist who used printmaking to capture the human spirit. Both artists invite us to see the world with empathy and complexity, embracing the unknown rather than trying to pin it down.