The Fire of Independence

         Twelve score and nine years ago there was brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal.  Now we are engaged in a great struggle, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.  It certainly makes Independence Day this year feel simultaneously cruelly ironic as well as poignantly precious.  But in this blog I look at everything through the lens of block prints, so here’s what I’ve got…

        Howard Cook (USA, 1901-1980) made two versions of his linoleum cut celebrating July Fourth.  Children dance and scamper about among fireworks and sparklers, but one version includes four colors ranging from yellow, through orange, into brown, while the second version is just the single darkest layer, this time printed in black.  (It could be a reduction print, such that the black and white version is all that’s left of the block by the time the other successive layers have been carved away, but it’s also possible that they’re separate blocks.)  At any rate, what I love about the color version is that the children hold stars in their hands, which is such a beautiful image.  On the other hand, I confess that so much fiery color right there on the ground around the children feels scary to me.  Even though you can actually see the smiles on a couple of the faces, my mind all too easily leaps to bombs and disaster.  In that regard the black and white version seems a little less intense, since the fireworks appear to be a little more up in the sky.

        I also wanted to include this wonderful Japanese wood block print that isn’t about the United States holiday at all.  It’s by Gakutei (Japan, 1786?-1868) and shows the Tenjin Festival in Osaka, which is held on July 24-25.  This wood block print also includes people gathered to celebrate with fire and lights, parades and festivities, and it evokes much of the feel of July Fourth for me.  Including it here today also speaks to my strong belief that the United States has grown and improved in the past 250 years precisely to the extent that it has expanded its view of who is actually embraced by that promise that everyone is endowed with the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  When we refuse to see the contributions of some, we deny ourselves our greatest strength, and when we roll back liberty and justice for some, we destroy the very foundations that I, for one, will be celebrating this week as I watch the fireworks with my neighbors from all different backgrounds, each of whom brings something important to my community.

[Pictures: July Fourth, linoleum cuts by Howard Cook, 1950 (Images from Smithsonian American Art Museum);

The Tenman Shrine Festival in Osaka, color woodcut by Gakutei, c. 1833-4 (Image from Philadelphia Museum of Art.]