Plenty 1910

This engraving of Kenyon Cox’s ‘Plenty’ was made by Timothy Cole in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century. I am really into the way Cole has rendered the figures here. You know, I’ve always felt a certain sympathy with artists who try to capture the human form. It’s like, how do you represent flesh and blood with just lines and shading? In this print, the woman and children seem to emerge from the shadows. Cole has created a sense of depth and volume, which gives the figures a real presence. And the way he’s captured the texture of the skin, it’s like you can almost feel it. There is a real humanity in the image. You feel like this is an idea about motherhood and abundance, passed down from classical times. It's inspiring to see artists like Cole engaging with the work of their contemporaries. It reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation, each generation building on the ideas of the last.