Delicatessen Maker 1922

John Winkler made this etching, "Delicatessen Maker," with incredible detail. He's using line here to build tone and texture, and it's a real process of layering and building up the image. What’s interesting to me is how much information Winkler gets from just a few marks. Look at the way the lines vary in thickness and direction. See how the density of the lines in the foreground creates this sort of dark, velvety feel. Then, your eye moves back into the distance, guided by these fainter, more delicate lines that suggest depth and light. It’s really all about the push and pull. It reminds me a little of Whistler’s etchings, where the subject isn’t quite as important as the atmosphere and the feeling of a particular place. There is so much here that is left unresolved, a kind of generative ambiguity.