September Storm 1951

"September Storm" is a lithograph made by Stow Wengenroth; it's all about the gradations of black and grey, and the process of building up tone through layers and textures. Look closely, and you can almost feel the grit of the rock and the spray of the waves. The way Wengenroth handles the textures, from the craggy rocks to the frothy sea, it’s like he’s carving out an emotional landscape as much as a physical one. There's this one rock, right in the foreground – see how it juts out, all rough edges and subtle shading? It anchors the whole scene, but it’s also kind of precarious, like a moment caught in time. There's something in Wengenroth's use of tone here that recalls Whistler's seascapes, a similar way of finding depth and drama in limited means. But where Whistler is ethereal, Wengenroth is earthy; his mark making brings you right into the storm. Art's an ongoing conversation like that, isn't it, always shifting and evolving.