George Washington 1902

This image of George Washington by Max Rosenthal was made in 1883, and it's an etching. Look at the tones here. Rosenthal gets so much with so little. The way the etching is worked, it's all about building up these tiny little marks. It's a slow, deliberate process that really translates to the final image. You can almost feel the artist's hand at work, scraping away at the metal plate to create these delicate lines and textures. And it's those tiny marks that give the portrait such a sense of depth and volume. The shading around Washington's face is so subtle and nuanced, really bringing out the planes and contours. Notice the leaves woven into his hair and how each one has a slightly different texture, a tiny variation in the marks that make it feel so alive. It reminds me a little of Piranesi, who was etching all those imaginary prisons back in the 1700s. Art is like this long chain of people thinking and making.