Jack 1902

This small etching of a dog, Jack, was made by Donald Shaw MacLaughlan, and you can see it at the Art Institute of Chicago. I love the way the marks evoke this sleepy dog, the tail splayed out, the head heavy on its paws. Look at the layering of lines here; it's almost like MacLaughlan is feeling the weight of the animal as he works, pressing down on the plate to capture the density of its fur. I imagine him watching Jack for hours, trying to understand how to translate this being into line. It reminds me of Whistler's prints, that same focus on capturing a feeling, an impression, more than a perfect likeness. It's an act of empathy, really, trying to get inside Jack's head and show us what it feels like to be that dog, right there, in that moment of blissful rest. Artists, we're all just trying to figure things out together, across time, one mark at a time.