David before Saul 1942

Albert Urban made this print, David before Saul, sometime in the mid twentieth century, using what looks like a lino block and printing inks. The colour palette is warm and earthy, like baked clay, with hues of orange and red dominating the composition. You can see how the artist uses line in a really interesting way to create these quite angular figures. The image has a kind of raw energy, doesn't it? The textures, the way the ink sits on the surface... it gives the piece a real sense of immediacy. Notice the way the lines vibrate, like they're alive. It's as if Urban is trying to capture something that's just out of reach, a feeling or a moment that's always slipping away. The dark lines that crosshatch the figure of David at the left create a sense of depth and shadow, but also a kind of anxiety. There’s something very Rouault about the way Urban simplifies the figures here. Both artists share a similar interest in religious subject matter. But more than that, they both embrace art as a place to wrestle with difficult ideas.