Dieppe c. 1930

William Washington made this print called ‘Dieppe,’ and just look at how he’s scratched and needled this plate! It feels like Washington wanted to capture everything in the scene; the whole town, the smoke billowing in the distance, and every little brick and rooftop. And it’s all done with these nervous, spidery lines! I can imagine him, bent over the plate, squinting, carefully etching each line, trying to get it just right. Did he keep a photo with him? Did he just do it from memory? There is a real sense of wanting to capture something that might disappear. The marks all feel the same, like he treated all parts of the composition equally. It reminds me a little of the prints of Whistler and the etchings of Rembrandt, and how artists just keep responding to the world in marks and lines.