Enigma 1937

Helen Lundeberg made this lithograph called Enigma at an unknown date, but look at those shades of gray! I wonder, did Lundeberg start with the bulb and then build the shell and the stand around it? Or did she already have the composition in mind before adding tone? The bulb is the key to this odd dreamscape, don’t you think? It is the point of focus in the work and our eye is immediately drawn to it, right? I’m not sure why this print is called Enigma but it may have something to do with the way the bulb almost floats within the frame. It reminds me a little of Giorgio Morandi's still lifes, if he went through an existentialist phase. I can imagine Lundeberg thinking about him as she made the print. It's like she's asking us, "What is real? What is an illusion?" Anyway, this is why I love art, it’s just one big conversation that never ends!