Untitled 1971

William Dole made this untitled print in 1971 using lithography, and what strikes me about it is its quiet, almost hesitant touch. It’s like the image is barely there, a whisper on the paper. I love the way Dole uses texture and transparency. Look at how the black ink is laid down, sometimes solid, sometimes broken into tiny dots, almost like a screen. There's a kind of push and pull between control and accident, a tension that makes the image feel alive. Notice that pale orange scribble in the upper left corner. It feels so vulnerable and exposed, yet it holds its own against the larger, darker shapes. For me, that little mark is the key to the whole piece. Dole’s work reminds me a little of Cy Twombly, in the way he uses simple marks to create a sense of depth and mystery. It shows how art is really an ongoing conversation, where artists build on each other's ideas, transforming them into something new and unexpected.