Over a cliff 1920

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin made this intaglio print called ‘Over a cliff’ with ink on paper. It’s all in monochrome with lots of little marks and lines that add up to the image. For me, printmaking has always been this kind of magical process of making something from almost nothing. Look at the way he uses short, choppy lines to describe the village. They make it feel like it’s teetering on the edge of something, a feeling which definitely matches the title. The two women in the foreground are drawn with very thin lines so it’s like they’re almost fading into the landscape. I can almost hear the scratching of the tool on the plate as I look at it, and that process feels very present to me. This reminds me of some of Käthe Kollwitz’s prints. Both artists create a real moodiness using only black and white. Ultimately art is a conversation and that conversation is never over.