The Grand Canal 1930

John Taylor Arms made this etching, The Grand Canal, and well, what can I say? Venice, right? What I immediately zoom into is the intense detail, all those tiny hatches, and the way the reflections in the water create another layer of this intricate pattern-making. It is all about mark-making, isn't it? Artmaking as a process. I imagine the artist with his etching needle, almost vibrating with concentration. You know how that is? The whole thing feels so light, so airy, almost like a memory fading into the past. And, you know, I think of Canaletto, who had a similar obsession with capturing Venice. But where Canaletto’s paintings are all about light and colour, Arms’s etching is about line and form. It's a conversation across time, a reminder that art is always echoing other art, borrowing, stealing, and transforming.