Pictures in Focus: Three Linocuts of the Adoration of the Magi by Ladislav Rusek

January 8, 2017

Pictures in Focus: Three Linocuts of the Adoration of the Magi by Ladislav Rusek

Today is Epiphany Sunday, celebrating the coming of the Three Kings to worship the Christ Child. During the month of January, I will be presenting new works from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection by international artists in a variety of media depicting this popular theme of sacred art. This week's art offering is a trio of small-sized linocut prints of the Adoration of the Magi by Czech Graphic Artist Ladislav Rusek, which were made as Christmas card illustrations. Rusek works in silhouette in these images printed from engraved linoleum sheets, using a vertical format to emphasize the great distance the Three Visitors from the East traversed in their search for the Christ Child. In one stylized image (left), the foreshortened road becomes a triangular peak, where the Holy Family sits at the summit enfolded in a radiant golden circle, symbolic geometric shapes repeated in the shooting star above. The three new Epiphany images are now on view in the image gallery of the East European Ex Libris page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. (John Kohan)