Orvieto Roofs 1926

William Evan Charles Morgan’s etching, ‘Orvieto Roofs’, is from 1926. I can picture him hunched over the plate, carefully rendering each tiny tile with the burin. The roofs themselves are such angular, assertive shapes. They almost become abstract forms, but with a strange atmospheric perspective, like a Cubist painting. The figures are minuscule and strangely still, as if caught in amber. I wonder what it was like for Morgan to be there, in Orvieto? What was he trying to capture? Maybe a longing for the past? A sense of timelessness? It has a real Piranesi quality to it, a sense of infinite space and labyrinthine perspectives. Etching is an indirect art, with a whole process standing between you and the final image. It's a dance of intention and accident, much like life itself. I can almost feel Morgan’s hand moving across the copper plate. Like a conversation between the artist, the place, and time itself.