Girl with Umbrella

A young girl with a paper umbrella stands in the rain in this 1969 print, her small figure and the circular form of the umbrella creating a composition of graphic simplicity that is characteristic of Karhu's early work with human subjects. The umbrella — both shelter and visual motif — becomes the organizing form of the composition, its ribs and fabric rendered with the same careful attention to material specificity that Karhu would later bring to tile rooftops and wooden lattices. The print is among his most accessible and immediately appealing early works.