Tanks #3 1930

Louis Lozowick created this lithograph titled "Tanks #3". The work features a large, imposing industrial water tank, symbolizing modernity and the machine age, rendered in stark, geometric forms. This motif, with its roots in the early 20th century, echoes the Tower of Babel, a testament to human ambition and technological prowess, yet also a foreboding sign of hubris. Consider the tank's cylindrical form, mirrored in earlier depictions of grain silos in ancient Egypt. The imagery suggests sustenance but now through the mechanics of modernity. The looming structure evokes a sense of awe, but also of alienation, akin to that felt by viewers confronted with the mechanized world. The presence of a solitary figure walking below the massive structure amplifies this sentiment, underscoring the psychological impact of industrialization on the individual. Like the ouroboros, perpetually consuming its own tail, the cyclical nature of progress ensures that each generation grapples anew with these symbols of power.