Chartres 1888 - 1934

This is Willem Adrianus Grondhout's 'Chartres' made using etching, a process that feels both meticulous and free. Look at the etched lines, how they swarm together to create depth, a haze of grey that gives way to form. They're not precious, they're working! This piece feels like a testament to the joy of looking, the pleasure of recording the world with a sensitive hand. The bridge is a mess of scratched lines and the water seems to be vibrating. It's not photo-realism, it's something much more alive and subjective. See the figure standing on the bridge, barely there, yet they animate the whole scene. It reminds me a bit of Piranesi's architectural fantasies, or maybe Whistler's cityscapes, where the city becomes a character in its own right, full of secrets and stories. Art is an ongoing conversation, after all, a back-and-forth across time and space.