Money c. 1929

Henry J. Glintenkamp made this black ink print called ‘Money’ and just look at it. It is quite something. Imagine the artist carefully carving into a block of wood, the push and pull of the tool leaving sharp, white lines against a dark background. It’s a labor of love, I reckon, cutting away to reveal these towering coins, each one blasting out light. He layers so many different images on top of each other: coins, banknotes, barrels. I can imagine Glintenkamp thinking about the many faces of currency and how it shapes our world. There are figures down at the bottom; one has outstretched arms. What is he reaching for? What does it all mean? The artist doesn’t tell us. Engravers are amazing storytellers. This feels like a conversation, an ongoing dialogue about value, labor, and the American dream. It reminds me of the prints of Otto Dix or Käthe Kollwitz in its social commentary, but with a distinctly American twist. There is so much storytelling going on here. I’m still wondering about those figures at the bottom and what it all means.