Hazewindhonden bij gevangen wild before 1912

This etching, 'Hazewindhonden bij gevangen wild' or 'Greyhounds with hunted game', was created by Joseph Edouard Van Looy, though there's no date, the artist died very young, so we know it's from the late nineteenth century. Look at the way the scene is rendered in dark, inky shades. Van Looy almost dissolves form into shadow, capturing the quiet aftermath of the hunt. The texture of the print, the way the ink sits on the paper, reminds me that making art is a physical process. See the layering of tones, how the artist has built up the image through repeated bitings of the plate. It’s an image that plays with light and dark, blurring the lines between reality and dream. It is very reminiscent of Francisco Goya's work, both artists share a similar approach to narrative ambiguity and imaginative depth, exploring how art can question more than it resolves.