"Luftmensch" 1957 - 1961

This is Anatoli Kaplan's lithograph "Luftmensch." The figure emerges from a textured background, its form built from dense, granular marks in varying shades of black and grey. This technique gives the subject a sense of depth, yet also a spectral quality, as if the figure is simultaneously present and dissolving into the ether. Kaplan's focus on materiality is evident in the way he uses the lithographic stone. The rough texture evokes a feeling of gravity, which is interesting, given that Luftmensch is Yiddish for "air person", someone detached from practical concerns, perhaps even a dreamer. This contrast between the subject and the execution is intriguing. It invites us to think about how identity is constructed through form, and how an artwork can embody internal tensions. The density of the marks works against the lightness implied by the title, and the figure seems weighted by the very material that gives it form.