Anabasis 1957

Benton Spruance made this print, Anabasis, with lithographic ink and a real feel for the materiality of the medium. It’s like watching a scene emerge from a dream, all in ghostly beige and white. The figures feel almost like they've been coaxed out of the stone itself, through a process of rubbing and revealing. Look at how the light seems to dissolve the forms around the edges, especially on that figure at the front, it’s feet like exposed roots. There’s a real tension between the solidity of the forms and the ethereal quality of the light. It's all about seeing how the ink sits on the surface, how it catches the light, and how it creates depth with such a limited palette. Spruance’s work has this way of reminding me of Goya, both of them masters of using light and dark to convey deep emotions and a sense of the uncanny. Ultimately, with a piece like this, it's less about what it shows and more about how it makes you feel – like you're part of a story that's still unfolding.