Stuyvesant Park c. 1935 - 1943

Florence Kent Hunter made this print of Stuyvesant Park, and it’s all about process, right? You can feel the artist really digging into the plate to create these bold black and white forms. I’m really drawn to how Hunter uses light and shadow to create depth, the contrast really gives the image its punch. There’s this great mix of textures going on too, look at the scratchy lines on the trees compared to the smooth, almost velvety blacks of the figures. And that rhythmic pattern of the fence in the background, it kind of vibrates, doesn’t it? It’s almost like a heartbeat, or the rhythm of the city itself. It reminds me a little bit of some of Jacob Lawrence’s prints, that same kind of social awareness and graphic simplicity. But Hunter’s got her own thing going on. She’s not afraid to play with perspective and flatten things out. It's a slice of life, a moment in time, but also a timeless image.