East River, Evening 1919

Rudolph Ruzicka made this print, ‘East River, Evening’, and the title is exactly right, isn’t it? The atmosphere is palpable, so how does an artist evoke this feeling of a specific moment? I imagine Ruzicka standing on the bank of the East River, looking out towards the factories on the opposite shore, boats looming in the distance. He is struck by the way the light hits the water, the heavy clouds hanging low in the sky. But how to capture this? He’s chosen a graphic medium here, creating a series of lines, marks, and textures which stand in for the density and emotion of the scene. Each mark is placed with intention and care, slowly building a scene that evokes the urban landscape and the emotional atmosphere of twilight. It's like he’s saying: "Look at this!" Drawing our attention to the beauty that can be found in the everyday.