Portrait of a Lady 1910

This is Timothy Cole's "Portrait of a Lady," an engraving made sometime in his lifetime before 1931. Cole had a real knack for capturing light and shadow with such fine lines, it's almost like he was painting with ink. Looking at the way the light catches her dress, you can see how he built up those tones, layer upon layer. It's a slow, deliberate process, like watching a photograph develop in a darkroom. I love how the patterns in the background wallpaper almost vibrate against the smoothness of her skin, which is just so very lightly described. Think of someone like Vija Celmins, who makes these drawings of the night sky where the image emerges from the accumulation of tiny marks. I guess what I'm saying is, the magic is in the making, in the way the artist coaxes the image out of the material. It reminds us that art is less about perfect representation, and more about a conversation between the artist, the medium, and the viewer.