Raft of the Medusa 1910

Timothy Cole made this small print, Raft of the Medusa, using wood engraving. The image is a sea of desperate figures and Cole has used a very restricted palette to bring out different qualities of tone. Look at the way the figures seem to swarm together, a mass of bodies clinging to the raft for dear life. The marks are so close together, they almost vibrate. The surface of the print is smooth, but the engraving creates such tonal depth it feels almost sculptural. Consider the dark shading in the bottom left corner: notice how the light bounces off the limbs, the wood engraving perfectly capturing the sense of despair. It reminds me of the drawings of Kathe Kollwitz, her heavy, dark lines used to render human suffering. Art is like a visual echo chamber.