Schadow and His Family

This is Johann Gottfried Schadow’s etching, “Schadow and His Family,” currently hanging at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Look how Schadow describes his family in a network of fine lines. The image emerges through a labor-intensive process, a gradual layering that reminds me of how we come to know ourselves through time. The etching has such a physical quality. The artist’s hand coaxed these figures into existence, each line a small decision. The way he renders the fabric of the dresses, for example. You can almost feel the weight and texture of the cloth. Focus on the way the figures are gathered together, their heads bent. There’s a sense of intimacy, a shared moment captured in this dense web of lines. The composition puts me in mind of Degas, though Schadow’s mark-making is much more graphic. In any case, art is like a big conversation, right? Always echoing, responding, and rethinking what came before.