Poort te Rome 1873 - 1931

Etienne Bosch made this print, ‘Poort te Rome,’ probably in the early 20th century. Imagine him, perhaps with a stick of charcoal, softly building up this scene, this view, through the Roman archway. There’s a delicacy to it, a kind of muted dreaminess in the monochrome palette. You can almost feel the sun-baked stones of the arch and the subtle gradations of light across the landscape. I wonder if Bosch was thinking about Corot, maybe? There’s a similar kind of soft focus, that romantic vision. The scene is gently rendered, a hazy, remembered place. It makes me think about how artists, especially painters, are constantly in conversation with one another. Each stroke, each choice of color, is an echo of the past, transformed by the present. The way we see is always informed by those who came before, adding their voices to the chorus of creativity.