Fish Peddler 1950

Editor: Here we have Louise Kruger’s "Fish Peddler," created in 1950 using linocut. It's stark and graphic, a bold image that almost feels… caricatured. What are your initial thoughts on it? Curator: As a materialist, I'm drawn to the linocut medium itself. Consider the artist’s process: carving away at the linoleum, embracing the limitations of the material to create these strong contrasts between black and white. It's about labor. What can we learn about Kruger’s relationship to labor? Editor: Well, the subject matter is very much about labor—specifically, a vendor presumably trying to sell his fish. Curator: Precisely. Kruger’s choice of linocut, traditionally associated with more “common” or popular forms of art, also challenges high art and craft’s established boundary. Consider its role as a tool for mass production. In what publications, and for whom, might something like this have appeared? Editor: That’s a really good point. Thinking about it as a repeatable image changes my perception. Did the choice of materials perhaps reflect a socialist sensibility, depicting a working-class figure? Curator: The possibility certainly resonates with the art's context. How would that choice affect its consumption? Editor: Perhaps making art more affordable and accessible to the masses, reflecting its subject? Thank you, I never thought about linocut as more than just a printmaking technique. Curator: By understanding production methods, the act of carving itself becomes a statement.