Crab Fishermen 1953

Emmy Lou Packard made this print, Crab Fishermen, and it's a knockout because of her color choices and how she's making this image feel so tactile, you know? She's using these purplish grays for the crabs that are both super moody and kind of beautiful, with this flat application of color that has lots of small imperfections. The wood grain texture is very apparent, and the hands of the fisherman reaching in from all sides feel like they’re right there. I love how she uses line, too, with the vertical lines giving the image structure, and then the other lines defining the forms of the men are just so present. The whole thing feels connected, like a puzzle, and makes me think of Jacob Lawrence, how he approached narrative and pattern, creating these stories you could just fall into. It's a reminder that art is always a conversation, a back-and-forth across time, and that it's always ok to see more than one thing at once!