Gezicht op een tuin bij een huis 1884 - 1947

Edgar Chahine's "Gezicht op een tuin bij een huis" is a landscape printed on paper of some kind. It looks like he worked on a plate, maybe etching or engraving, and then printed it. The physical qualities of the print, its texture and surface, definitely inform the emotional experience of the artwork. If you look closely, you can see the scratches and marks on the plate. The texture isn't erased or hidden; it's part of the conversation. This is like, the anti-photograph. Look at the foreground; the way the marks thicken, clump up, to create areas of shadow, and then dissolve into this kind of gauzy, almost impressionistic light. It reminds me a little of Whistler, that kind of tonalist approach. But whereas Whistler is about this kind of beautiful harmony, this is a little edgier, a little more raw.