Big Inch 1941

Rockwell Kent made this lithograph of men handling an enormous pipe with ink on paper. It’s like he’s inviting us to consider the labor involved in the construction of our industrial infrastructure. I wonder what Kent was thinking about when he drew this? Was he focused on the heroic quality of labor or was it a critique of industrialization? The tonal range is so subtle, almost like a pencil drawing. But it's a lithograph, so he’s really embracing the graphic, and almost photographic qualities of the medium. You can almost feel the weight of the pipe and the strain on the workers' bodies! And then this diver resting on the side... It’s kind of funny! All this quiet, powerful, physical effort, and then this guy in his diving suit just chilling, tethered to the boat. Artists are always having a conversation across time, picking up on one another’s insights.