Mine Tunnel—7th Level 1936

Harry Sternberg made this print, Mine Tunnel—7th Level, using lithography, which is like drawing with grease on a stone, then printing it. Look at the weight of all that darkness, the heavy shadows—it’s a world of work, worry, and coal dust. The artist’s hand, moving back and forth, must have been quite deliberate, and there’s all this dark hatching to define the space. You can almost feel the grit and the damp in the air. What did Sternberg want to convey? I think that it's a testament to the laborers who go to the depths of the earth to extract materials. I’m struck by the faces of the two miners. I imagine the artist looking intently at those faces, trying to understand their character, their strength and resilience, but also the toll that such labor takes on the human spirit. Sternberg has a sharp eye for the ordinary, for the things often overlooked. There's a conversation among artists, across time, about what it means to be human, what it means to work, to suffer, to endure. Each artist brings their own voice to the chorus, echoing and amplifying the voices of those who came before, and inspiring those who will come after.