Bootleg Mining 1937

Harry Gottlieb made this print, Bootleg Mining, at an unknown date, using lithographic crayon, tusche, and scraping. It’s all about how marks can create a feeling. Look at the layering of those crayon lines, those smudgy shadows that let some light in, as if we’re in this space, too. There’s a real sense of grit in the marks, which feels very grounded and true to the reality these miners must have faced, so we can almost feel the dust and the danger. See how the drawing almost dissolves into abstraction in places, only to snap back into focus as you recognize a figure, a tool, or a piece of equipment. The way Gottlieb's built up this image through tone feels a little like Honoré Daumier, with an interest in the lives of working people, but here, it feels more like an intimate, immersive experience. This piece, like all art, is an ongoing conversation about life.