Leaning Into It 1925

Curator: Oh, this gives me a real sense of power, doesn’t it? It feels so full of speed and energy. What’s your take on this etching? Editor: It's Otto August Kühler’s "Leaning Into It" from 1925, a wonderful example of modernism’s fascination with the machine age. The medium is etching on paper. Curator: Yes! I feel like I can smell the coal and hear the whistle. The composition itself leans—the whole train appears to tilt diagonally. It creates a dynamic effect, almost like it's bursting off the page. Does it make you think of anything specific? Editor: The visual syntax of the work is fascinating. Kühler’s decision to render the train larger-than-life and off-center shifts the viewer’s relationship to space. Observe how the sky is treated almost as an afterthought, a bare scraping of lines, to direct all the visual weight to the locomotive and its implications. It is about materiality. Curator: Materiality—yes, absolutely! The physical presence of that engine, I can feel its vibration in my chest. And you are right. I hadn't picked up on the contrast there with the sky and all the visual focus forced on this great hunk of metal. He’s made it so you cannot miss that fact this is an instrument of great industry! Editor: Indeed, the lines themselves feel industrial, mass-produced almost. The meticulous rendering of the train's mechanics serves as a visual testament to the power of engineering. It is not a stretch to argue that Kühler is engaging with a discourse on modernity itself, illustrating the fusion of man and machine. The choice to do it in grayscale focuses the emphasis even more on materiality. Curator: Thinking about it, the artist even puts the vanishing point just below the train. Everything converges on that force of propulsion. So what is it like looking at it now after our brief exploration of it? Editor: I'm still struck by the work's formal articulation. I’d venture to say that the artist wanted to use the subject matter to deify this mechanical monster by visually re-ordering it to an icon, but the dark medium feels self-effacing—as if it should not fully step out into the light to be completely noticed or agreed with. How about you? Curator: I love that take! It leaves me just marveling at the power of this simple etching, a reminder of when steel ruled the world.