Morning

The Hungarian etcher Julius Komjati’s spiritual and introspective artistic vision was significantly influenced by his experience as a prisoner of war of the Romanians for sixteen months during World War I. He was one of only two thousand survivors among the original sixteen thousand captives. Morning, like many of Komjati’s etchings, recalls the landscape of his native Hungary, yet it is less about natural features than about the reclining figure who fills the frame. The image is strangely intimate: although we do not see the man’s face, there is a certain tenderness in the portrayal of the soles of his bare feet. We look over his shoulder as if to experience with him the moment of peace and solemnity before the day’s labor begins.