Esprit de terre 1959

Jean Dubuffet made "Esprit de terre," and when I look at this monochromatic print, I can imagine the earth talking. The surface is alive with dark marks, like rain on a window. It's all about texture and feeling. The way the ink is pressed and lifted creates a sense of depth. You can almost feel the grit and grain of the earth. There is a density to the marks; they gather and release like breath. I wonder if Dubuffet thought about the way we leave our mark on the land. And I think about Guston and how he also was interested in the everyday. It makes you think about how artists are always in conversation, picking up where others leave off. They are trying things out, testing what a thing can be, its possibilities, and how that connects to us. Painting is like that, always finding new forms in the dirt.