A Fishing Harbour 1913

James McBey's 'A Fishing Harbour' is a delicate dance of ink on paper, a symphony of greys that hums with the quiet energy of a working port. I imagine McBey, squinting in the hazy light, etching these lines with focused intensity. Look at how the masts of the fishing boats create a forest of verticals, balanced by the horizontal stretch of the pier. You can almost feel the cool, salty air and hear the cries of gulls circling overhead. There's such a sense of place in his lines, a real empathy for the people who lived and worked there. The figures in the foreground aren't mere details; they're integral to the story. I wonder if McBey thought of Rembrandt as he made this etching? Like him, he revels in the possibilities of the form. Artists are always speaking to each other, riffing on the same themes, showing each other different ways of seeing. It's a conversation that never ends.