Assembly Church 1936

Prentiss Taylor made Assembly Church, a lithograph, in 1938. The whole scene is rendered in shades of gray, with subtle gradations of tone that suggest a soft, diffused light filtering through the space. Look at the way Taylor uses line to define the figures and objects within the church. It's all about suggestion, you know? The texture of the lithographic crayon on the stone creates a kind of velvety surface. It invites you to lean in close. The way the artist captures the folds of fabric in the worshippers' robes—it gives a sense of movement and energy to the scene, as if the figures are caught in mid-motion. There's one figure in the center with their arms raised. Her form is rendered in a lighter tone than the others, almost ethereal, and it draws your eye immediately. Taylor's work reminds me a bit of Honoré Daumier, especially in the way he captures the humanity of everyday people. And like all great art, it asks more questions than it answers, doesn't it?