Standbeeld van Walter Scott door John Steell in Princesstreet in Edinburgh, Schotland before 1906

This black and white photograph from an unknown date pictures John Steell's statue of Walter Scott in Edinburgh. I can just imagine the artist working in their darkroom, head bent over the developing tray, watching the image emerge. There's something about the smoothness of the stone that gets me thinking about the artist's hands, the slow, deliberate process of carving, the way the material resists and yields at the same time. I think of Rodin, wrestling with marble, trying to release the figures trapped inside. Scott sits there with his dog, head bowed, holding a book. Is he reading? Is he thinking? The way he holds that book, almost protectively, is really interesting. The dialogue between artists across time is always present, isn't it? Each one builds upon what came before, responding, reacting, adding their own voice to the conversation. The history of art, really.