Sunset at Cattawade 1922 - 1923

James McBey made this etching, Sunset at Cattawade, with ink on paper. The scene emerges from a haze of etched marks, a dance of dark lines that capture the light and shadow of the landscape. You can almost feel McBey working, scratching into the plate with focused intensity. He’s using thin lines, almost like he is sketching. Imagine standing beside him, the air filled with the scent of ink and the quiet scratch of the tool. What was he thinking as he rendered the arches of the bridge or the ripples in the water? Maybe he was thinking about the long history of etchings that have come before. I bet he was in deep conversation with Rembrandt. There is a sense of immediacy here. The clouds are drawn as though they are scudding away from the scene. McBey’s strokes really convey the essence of a fleeting moment, a sunset captured not just as a visual phenomenon but as an emotional experience. It’s like he’s inviting us to join him in a moment of quiet reflection, a shared contemplation of the world around us.