Untitled (Suburb) c. 1938 - 1948

Lynd Ward created this untitled image of a suburb with an engraving. You know, those lines are so decisive. Ward really committed, didn't he? You can feel the force he exerted to make this image. I think the work shows a contrast, even a tension, between the houses which sit up high and the labouring figures down in the ditch. The houses look so still, set back from the road with their bushes, walls, and trees. They are solid, permanent. I wonder if Ward was thinking about the American Dream? Maybe he felt like it was built on shaky foundations, or even on the backs of the workers down below. There’s a strange combination of detail and flattening in this image. It makes me think about the relationships between different parts of a society, and who benefits most. It makes you think, right?