December Snow 1951

Stow Wengenroth made "December Snow" using lithographic crayon on stone, transferred to paper. Lithography involves a slow, skillful hand. The artist draws an image on a flat stone or metal plate with a greasy crayon, and then treats the surface so that only the drawn areas will hold ink. The print is made by pressing paper against the inked surface. The resulting print rewards close observation of the labor put into the final image. Look closely at the textures, the gradations of light and shadow. You can almost feel the weight of the snow on the branches. Lithography allowed Wengenroth to achieve a remarkable level of detail and tonal variation, capturing the subtle nuances of a winter landscape. The way the artist uses the lithographic crayon emphasizes the textures in the natural world. This challenges the traditional hierarchies between fine art and craft. Instead, we can appreciate the artist’s skill and sensitivity to the materials, and how he uses them to convey a sense of place and atmosphere.