Christ Carrying the Cross (fifth plate) c. 1910

Jean-Louis Forain made this print of Christ carrying the cross, no date, and it's all about line, etched into a plate. Imagine the artist, bent over the metal, pulling the tool across the surface. Look at those tightly hatched lines in the background, making a kind of claustrophobic wall. It’s a crowd, and it's also a kind of abstract, oppressive force. And then there's Christ himself, hunched over, almost disappearing under the weight of the cross. The lines are scratchy and urgent, like the artist is trying to capture a feeling more than a picture. I bet Forain felt something about suffering and injustice while he was making this. It reminds me of Käthe Kollwitz, who also used printmaking to express deep empathy for human suffering. Artists, we’re all looking at each other, across time, trying to make sense of the world in marks.