Mrs. Carnac 1915

Timothy Cole made this small engraving titled ‘Mrs. Carnac’, and I’m picturing him bent over the plate, squinting, with a very sharp tool in his hand. He’s incising tiny, precise lines to build up a sense of light and shadow. It's a copy of a famous portrait by Gainsborough. But it’s not just a copy; it’s an interpretation. Cole is translating the lushness of paint into the starkness of black and white. I imagine Cole contemplating Gainsborough's brushstrokes, trying to understand how each mark creates form and texture. Maybe he's thinking about how the softness of Mrs. Carnac’s dress contrasts with the rigidity of her pose. It’s like he’s having a conversation with Gainsborough across time, saying, “I see what you did there, and here’s my take on it.” This piece is a testament to the ongoing dialogue between artists, each one building on the work of those who came before.