Les Soleils 1929 - 1932

Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac made this print called ‘Les Soleils’ with an etching needle, dragging it across a metal plate. Can’t you just picture him there, hunkered over the plate, scratching at the metal, pushing and pulling lines this way and that? He starts with sunflowers, and a frisky cat. The lines are packed together, but loose, with a controlled frenetic energy. Segonzac probably added acid to the plate to bite into the lines, and then printed it, maybe experimenting with the pressure of the press? He’s known to have admired painters like Courbet and Corot, and you can see a similar interest in capturing a real moment in front of him. The overall effect is a real feeling of a place, like a memory of a bright sunny day that might be there, or not. It's like a painting, but in its own print language. When artists like Segonzac start messing with the tools of art, they open up new ways for us to see, think, and feel.