Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"Reynold Weidenaar was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1915 and died in 1985. He was especially active during the 1940s and 1950s, and his main interest was the intaglio technique of printmaking (etchings, engravings, drypoint, aquatint, and mezzotint). Weidenaar also did some painting in watercolors and resin oils, but printmaking was his forte. He liked to experiment not only with his printmaking but also with tools, and he was known as a forerunner in reviving the art of mezzotint in the 20th century. Weidenaar studied at the Kansas City Art Institute in the 1940s, and he later received much recognition and special awards, such as a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Tiffany Scholarship, as well as invitational exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Carnegie Institute. He also wrote two books, Out Changing the Landscape and A Sketchbook of Michigan (the second was done in collaboration with Anne Zellar). Many of his works depict scenes from Michigan, although he was also able to travel and made some of his prints abroad. One of the places he went was Mexico, where he executed the Valley of Wrath.
This print was the artist’s first attempt at a color mezzotint. As described in Riva Castleman’s Prints of the 20th Century, a mezzotint is “an intaglio print made from a metal plate, which has been manually scratched or pitted with a rocker (a multitoothed tool). The pits are subsequently smoothed away to form areas that will no longer hold ink.” In the scene, a volcano is erupting with billowing large clouds of black smoke which darken most of the sky. Behind the volcano a few other mountains appear, while directly in front and to the viewer’s left dead trees can be seen extending from a forest. On the right side of the print, in front of the volcano, appear three houses or perhaps a small village, which may be in the path of an oncoming lava flow. The middle ground is flat with streambeds cut through it. In the left foreground appears a prominent dead tree, dwarfing three tiny human figures; the three figures seem to have no connection to each other and are isolated. Of the two figures in the middle ground one appears to be carrying a pack on his back while another is seen further off. The third figure, closer to the foreground, seems to be struggling with a stubborn donkey or pack mule. The sky is filled with black and gray smoke, but one can still see a hint of bright blue behind. The ground and trees are a yellowish-green hue, and the lava glows with bright yellows, oranges, and reds. The overall mood is turbulent and violent. It reminds one of the Romantic notion of the sublime and the awesome power of nature over man.
Susan Mohr "