Pinnacle 1928

Rockwell Kent made this print called 'Pinnacle' using lithography. It's all about blacks, whites, and grays, right? But the way he uses tone to model the figure of the man and the rock, it's not just about what things look like. It's about how light shapes our view, guiding us through the scene, almost like a map. Look at how Kent renders the large rock the figure is leaning on. It's solid, weighty, but its surface is alive with subtle gradations. The way the man is looking off to the side, suggests there is more to see than what's in front of us, there's a horizon, a future, or maybe a challenge? Kent worked as an architect and carpenter early in his career and you see this in the hard-edged graphic quality of the work. You might think of someone like Dorothea Lange, another artist who captured the American spirit with an intensity and clarity that feels both timeless and deeply connected to a specific moment. It’s a reminder that art doesn't have to shout to be heard; sometimes, it just needs to look in the distance.