The Darkest Age 1935

Carl Hoeckner’s print, titled "The Darkest Age," presents a cityscape cloaked in shadow, its smokestacks belching light into the oppressive gloom. This stark contrast between light and darkness evokes a profound sense of unease. The image recalls earlier depictions of infernal landscapes, such as those found in Hieronymus Bosch's visions of hell, where fire and smoke symbolize moral decay and spiritual anguish. Here, the city is transformed into a modern-day inferno, a landscape of industrial excess. The thick darkness hanging over the city bears a resemblance to the "dark night of the soul", an image which resurfaces through time to describe moments of intense existential crisis. This recurring motif mirrors our collective anxieties about industrialization and its consequences, reflecting how the human psyche grapples with the shadows of progress.