Felsschlucht, by Rudolf Jettmar, Ausrian, (1869-1939)

Etching, ca, 1905, published by Gesllschaft Fur Verviefaltegende Kunst, Vienna, 16-1/8 x 10-5/8, unsigned but credited as an original etching by Jettmar at lower left in the printed legend below, on a full sheet of heavy buff colored wove paper, measuring 22-1/4 x 17-7/8, with small creases at the corners and edges of the large margins, a fine impression and the sheet fresh with no staining. Jettmar was an Austrian symbolist painter and printmaker, and a member of the Vienna Secession. His graphic work can be related to that of his contyemporary Max Klinger, his themes often portraying the untamed grandeur and power of nature over man, or taken from literature and mythology. He produced a few cycles and individual prints in etching, lithography and woodcut, contributing examples of the latter to the  legendary periodical Ver Sacrum. The title  Felsschlucht translates as Canyon. Jettmar's expressive skill as a draftsman is well documented. Here we see two figures  both bent with fatigue from their climb and the heavy sacks they carry; they are as gray as the path they traverse. There may be figures among the rocks to the right of their path, tending to the burdens they have laid down, but this is uncertain, as their forms are amorphous and difficult to distinguish from the rocks around them. The graphic power and emotional impact here heightens a sense of timeless struggle for survival under harsh conditions, and humanity's will and optimism which rises to meet each challenge.