Fisherman's Luck 1939

This is Fisherman’s Luck by Harry Gottlieb, made in 1929, and it's a color woodcut, so think of it as a kind of printmaking, but each color is carved separately. I imagine Gottlieb wanting to show the everyday struggles of working people, the grit and effort, and maybe a bit of hope. It reminds me of those WPA murals, that American scene, but with a graphic punch. See how the figures strain against the waves? You can almost feel the cold water and the weight of the boat, those blocks of color create a world of toil and teamwork. Gottlieb is part of a conversation, an ongoing exchange of ideas about how to show life, how to make us feel the struggles and triumphs of others through simple means. It's about finding a language that everyone can understand, that gets right to the heart of things.