Gargantua: Chapter XXV 1942

This is Bernard Reder's black ink print, Gargantua: Chapter XXV. The artist scratches into the plate and imagines what it might have been like to be in his place, wrestling with the story, the characters, and the weight of history. Look at the dark shadows and the light catching on these figures. See how Reder uses cross-hatching to create depth and volume, almost like he's carving these bodies out of stone? It's like he's not just illustrating a scene, but trying to understand the very texture of human experience. The figures, caught in moments of action, almost remind me of some Picasso paintings. They are twisted and distorted, full of raw energy. I can imagine Reder working on this late at night, the world outside fading away as he brings this chaotic scene to life, lost in the dialogue between hand and image. Reder’s Gargantua shares a space with so many artists across time who have been trying to make sense of the world.