Intermission c. 1940

Cleve Bissell made this lithograph called 'Intermission' and honestly, it looks like a family portrait backstage at some serious drama. The cool thing is how Bissell uses these tiny, almost scribbled marks to build up the forms. It's like he's thinking through each line, not just drawing what he sees, but feeling it out. Check out the faces, especially the woman in the back with the frilly collar – the way he suggests light and shadow with those little strokes gives her a real presence. And then there's the kid in the front, staring right at you, holding what looks like a book or script. The texture of the lithograph itself adds to this whole mood, doesn't it? It's gritty and soft at the same time, like a memory. It reminds me a little of George Bellows's gritty city scenes, but with this added layer of theatricality. With art, you are never really done, are you? There is always some kind of dialog between artists. You are just interjecting.