Untitled 1947

Curator: Right, let's talk about this fascinating "Untitled" etching by Howard Daum, created in 1947. Editor: My first impression? It feels like peering into a collective unconscious, a jumble of symbols and primordial forms. Quite moody, actually. Curator: Indeed! You know, looking at Daum's work from this period, it's easy to see the influence of Abstract Expressionism, with its focus on spontaneous, automatic gestures. He's playing with pure form and abstraction here, leaving behind any clear representational imagery. Editor: Precisely. And that date—1947! Right after the war, a period of immense societal upheaval and questioning. Abstraction became a way to express the unspeakable, the traumas and uncertainties that realist depictions just couldn't capture. These disjointed figures remind me of bodies shattered and scattered after some type of massive sociopolitical event. Curator: Yes, there's a visceral rawness to the mark-making, almost frantic, don’t you think? But it's also balanced, somehow. Notice the distribution of dark and light areas. It draws you in. You might almost get the feeling that it might reveal some sort of secret if you look at it long enough, the way those shapes play against each other, a narrative that's not quite knowable, like a dream fading. Editor: Or a half-remembered nightmare! The symbols, these disembodied eyes, and fragmented shapes—they become signifiers of displacement and trauma. Remember, the avant-garde often saw itself as a response to societal breakdown, striving to forge new visual languages that reflected the instability and anxiety of the postwar world. The heavy reliance on abstract language during this time isn't coincidental at all. Curator: It feels to me, like the artist worked until the composition reached this perfect imbalance and then stepped back. Very brave. But also the result of really putting the time and care in, until this organized chaos emerged! Editor: That tension between order and chaos feels incredibly poignant now, actually. In this current era of political polarization and mass uncertainty, it feels strangely relevant, even timeless. Daum tapped into something truly fundamental. Curator: Agreed. This artwork offers a glimpse into an interiority, a sense of humanity at a critical juncture. Editor: An open text inviting us to fill in its gaps. Profound!