The Meadow Chapel 1928

Graham Sutherland made this small etching of a chapel sometime during his lifetime. Look at how the image emerges from a tight network of etched lines. It's like the scene is being built up, bit by bit, through mark-making. I imagine Sutherland outside, squinting at the chapel, trying to capture its essence with his needle on the plate. I bet he was thinking about how the light hits the stone and how the building sits in its landscape. The sheep at the front remind me of a stage setting, or maybe he put them there to give us a sense of scale. The textures are so lovely; you can almost feel the roughness of the stone or the wooliness of the flock. Sutherland, like other artists, learned from those before him and experimented with new ways of seeing and representing the world. Ultimately, all these marks offer a glimpse into the artist’s perception and experience. It’s not just about what’s depicted, but how it's depicted. That's where the magic lies!