Janus-Bogen (Arch of Janus) 1959 - 1960

Anton Lehmden made this print, Arch of Janus, using etching, a process of mark-making that feels a little like slow-motion drawing. The lines have a deliberateness, a kind of searching that gives the image its peculiar, haunting quality. The entire surface is worked with these incisive lines, from the overgrown foliage to the crumbling brickwork, with a particular emphasis on texture. Notice the lower-left section of the arch. Look closely and you see the light shimmering, almost like a mirage. This speaks to how physical processes shape our experience, creating an emotional resonance that shifts between melancholy and wonder. Lehmden shares with Piranesi a penchant for architectural spaces transformed into something psychologically charged, and like Piranesi, suggests that ruins, both literal and metaphorical, remain fertile ground for art. The Arch of Janus, a form that looks both backwards and forwards, invites us to consider art as a continuous dialogue across time.