Caféinterieur met klanten en serveerster 1925

Jean Emile Laboureur made this etching, Caféinterieur met klanten en serveerster, which translates as café interior with customers and waitress, sometime in the first half of the 20th century. I love how the artist used tight hatching to give form and depth to the scene. The whole composition feels like it’s been built up, stroke by stroke. The shadows cast from the patrons look harsh, but there’s something charming in the way that Laboureur has captured the scene. I can imagine him in the café with his sketch book trying to capture the scene, the way the light filters in through the windows, and how the different forms of the customers give different dimensions to the work. Maybe he’s thinking about cubism, maybe he’s thinking about storytelling. As a painter myself, I find such simple marks so refreshing. They are a reminder of the beauty and power of simplicity.