The Prodigal Son 1913

This etching called ‘The Prodigal Son’ was made by Auguste-Louis Lepère sometime between 1849 and 1918. It’s an image of a landscape in muted tones created through very fine lines and cross-hatching. I’m imagining Lepère walking along the road, looking at this scene. What I love about looking at a work like this is thinking about how the artist thought about the world. What details were important to them? What did they see? It’s like seeing through someone else’s eyes, and then trying to put that down on paper. Look at the thicket of trees looming in the center. He’s built up tone through these tiny, tiny marks, creating shadow and light. It's interesting that he chose to depict this very subtle return home in the middle of nature, almost as an aside. There is a connection between artists across time. Artists learn and influence one another, picking up ideas, and passing them on through their own unique interpretations of the world. What I find so incredible about painting and art-making, is that it is an embodied form of expression that embraces ambiguity, allowing space for many readings.