William Butler Yeats: fourth plate Possibly 1919

Augustus John made this etching, a portrait of William Butler Yeats, using fine lines scratched into a metal plate. Look at how the hatching both builds up the form and flattens it out. The surface has this pale, almost ghostly quality. The lines are so delicate, you can almost feel the artist's hand trembling as he draws. See how the lines around Yeats' face are denser, creating a sense of depth? And then, those rapid strokes defining his jacket, almost like a shorthand for the folds of fabric. It reminds me of some of Lucien Freud’s etchings, that same intensity of observation, but with a lighter touch, as if it's a fleeting impression, a moment caught in time. Ultimately, there's a sense of openness here, an invitation to linger and dream, rather than to arrive at any fixed conclusion.