He Walks Alone 1951

Richard Florsheim made this dreamscape, 'He Walks Alone,' with lithographic crayon in 1951. The whole scene is rendered in delicate and expressive greyscale; heavy dark clouds loom behind a spindly structure that looks a bit like a collapsed tent. I can imagine Florsheim smudging and blending the lithographic crayon to achieve the misty atmosphere. Just look at the way the shadows stretch across the barren landscape. I’m thinking about the lone figure in the distance. Is he walking towards us or away? What’s he thinking? Is he lost, or determined? I wonder if Florsheim was thinking about the post-war mood of isolation and uncertainty when he made this. Or maybe he was just having a bad day, ha! But whatever he was feeling, the piece stays with you. It speaks to the power of suggestion and the way a simple scene can convey so much feeling. It reminds me of some of the surrealist works by de Chirico or Magritte. It's like Florsheim is inviting us to project our own feelings onto his image. And that's what makes it so compelling, right?