The Sign 1945

Glen Alps made "The Sign" using etching, a process of mark-making that feels so connected to drawing, to thought itself. I imagine him carefully working the plate, building up the image line by line. The light is just gorgeous. See how it captures the details of the advertisement, the humble dwellings, and the rugged mountain backdrop. What was he thinking, juxtaposing the grand scale of nature with the everyday, almost gritty reality of human life? It’s like he’s saying something about the signs that surround and define us. I find myself wondering about the relationship between this artist's work and that of other printmakers and social realists of his time. They're all in conversation, responding to the world in ways that feel both deeply personal and universally relevant. And that, my friends, is the beauty of art.