Little Italy 1911

Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt made this etching, Little Italy, at some point, and with the kind of mark-making you see here, it's all about the process. Look at the surface, it's got this overall grittiness, a kind of all-over tone, and then these dark lines cutting through, describing figures, architecture, this flurry of activity in front of a building. It’s like he's scratching into the surface, trying to find the image. There’s a looseness, an improvisational energy, that invites you in. The figures on the steps, for example, how they're just suggested with a few quick lines, it's like the artist is saying, "Here's the essence of a person, a moment, a place." You think of other printmakers, like Whistler, who were also interested in capturing the fleeting moments of modern life, but Nordfeldt has this raw, almost naive quality that sets him apart. Art isn't just about the finished product, it's about the conversation, the back-and-forth between the artist and the material, and between the artwork and the viewer.