Gezicht op de rue de Sèvres met zicht op de Abbaye -aux-Bois 1906 - 1911

This is Henri Manesse's "Gezicht op de rue de Sèvres met zicht op de Abbaye -aux-Bois," a cityscape made with a monochrome palette using etching. I love how he uses line to suggest atmosphere. Etching is a process, a dance between intention and accident, just like life. Look closely at the facade of the building on the right, the way the lines darken in places to give volume to the building. Manesse uses a more frenetic, looser application of lines in the foreground to suggest the pavement and foliage. These marks are a shorthand; they are the essence of the thing itself. There's a real tenderness in the way Manesse handles the light, it’s almost Whistlerian. Both artists share an appreciation for tonal subtleties. Art, like memory, is a collection of impressions, never a perfect replica. That's where the magic lies, in the space between what we see and what we feel.