Rue Git-le-Coeur 1943

This is Roger Vieillard’s "Rue Git-le-Coeur," an etching, delicately drawn and printed in black ink on a warm, off-white paper. I'm drawn to the intricacy of the lines, how they swarm together to create form. The way the light catches the buildings, you can almost feel the cool dampness of the stone, like being there early in the morning. I imagine Vieillard hunched over his plate, meticulously scratching away, trying to capture the soul of this Parisian street. Printmaking is such a physical process. Each line is a decision, a commitment. The artist has to trust the process, to let the image emerge through the labor. Looking at this, I think about the history of printmaking, all the artists who have used this medium to share their vision of the world, each inspiring the next. It’s a reminder that art is a conversation, a dialogue across time and space. It allows us to see through another’s eyes.