Retroussage Eiffel Tower 1976

This print of the Eiffel Tower was made by Jim Dine, who was playing with the printmaking process in a pretty physical way. Look at how he's built up this image using layers of marks, almost like he's scratching into the surface to reveal the tower. It's all about texture here, right? The scratched lines create a kind of shimmering effect, like the tower is emerging from a haze. I'm drawn to the way Dine uses this all-over mark-making. If you look closely, you can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the plate, building up the image bit by bit. It feels like a record of a performance. This way of building an image from the ground up reminds me of Cy Twombly's work, the way he’d use scribbles and lines to create these epic, almost classical scenes, but with a really raw, immediate feel. Both artists show us how art doesn't have to be about perfection. It can be about the process, the struggle, and the beauty of imperfection.