Plate - "Marine Hospital, Louisville" c. 1936

Helmut Hiatt made this plate, "Marine Hospital, Louisville" at an unknown date. I just love that it’s on a plate. Everything is tonal and linear, full of infinite marks and textures and a great reminder that artmaking is a process. The Marine Hospital is rendered in such precise detail, while the surrounding border teems with shells and foliage, almost like a dreamscape. The textures are so tangible; you can almost feel the roughness of the shells against your fingertips. The whole thing is a bit surreal. The shell at the bottom is incredible, and it kind of grounds the whole piece, doesn't it? Like it's holding the composition together with its strange weight. It reminds me a bit of Redon's dreamscapes, a similar sense of the uncanny. Anyway, it's amazing how an image on a plate can be so compelling, so weird, and so beautiful all at once.