Highway Number Seven c. 1950 - 1951

George Joseph Mess made this rabbit print, Highway Number Seven, using black ink on paper. It’s not about showing off his skill, but more about the joy of putting marks on paper, like a visual diary. The textures in this piece, the way he uses parallel lines to create a sense of depth in the landscape, it's almost like he's thinking out loud with his tools. Look at the tree in the middle of the composition, for instance. It's not just a tree; it's a collection of lines and shapes that come together to suggest the idea of a tree. It reminds me a bit of some of the early modernists, like the German Expressionists, who were also interested in using simplified forms to convey emotion and experience. Mess seems to be inviting us to see the world in a new way, to appreciate the beauty in the everyday. Art is an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time.