Lawn Tennis c. 1913

Allen Lewis made this etching, Lawn Tennis, sometime in the early 20th century. It's a small print. You can almost see the artist bent over the plate, scratching away, building up tone and texture. What's so compelling is how he's managed to suggest movement, even narrative, with just a few lines and tonal contrasts. See that figure swinging the racket? It’s like a blur, right? And the woman standing to the side, observing—is she waiting for her turn, or is she simply enjoying the game? Thinking about the way Lewis worked on the plate reminds me of Degas’s monotypes, where he used layers of ink to create atmospheric scenes. There’s something similar going on here, where the etching feels both precise and spontaneous. In Lewis's work, you feel this sense of play. Each mark feels like a discovery, and it makes me want to pick up a tool and start making my own marks too. We're all just trying to figure things out, one mark at a time.