Untitled (Delivery By Rail) 1949

This is a black and white wood engraving by Lynd Kendall Ward, called 'Untitled (Delivery By Rail)'. I can only imagine the planning and physical effort that goes into carving something like this. The whole thing has this strong diagonal sweep, from the rail worker looking up at the dawning sun, across the trains and trucks, and into the land. It's as if he's both conducting the work, and being conducted by it. I wonder if Ward felt like that too, as he worked on this? The density of marks is wild, and there is a real drama to the light. Look at the sun's rays bursting from the clouds, rendered with such energy. This picture reminds me of other heroic, socialist artworks of the time. It speaks to the way one artist can build on, and transform, what another has done. And isn't that the joy of art? We're all in this ongoing conversation, inspiring each other across time.