Emigrants 1922

This is 'Emigrants', an etching by Emil Orlik. Just look at the scratching and scraping of the plate, the artist's hand pulling the needle through the ground. It gives the picture a really raw and gritty feel, like he’s trying to capture a moment that’s both real and heavy. What did he want us to see? I wonder what it was like for Orlik to make this? Did he feel he was seeing into the souls of these people? I'm always drawn to the way artists try to catch the light and shadow, the textures of clothes and faces. It’s like Orlik wanted to show us not just what these people looked like, but also a feeling, a mood. It reminds me a bit of Käthe Kollwitz's prints, that same empathy. You get the sense that artists are always in conversation, picking up ideas and running with them in their own way. Painting and printmaking, they’re not just about making something pretty, they’re about digging into the mess of life.