Bookstalls, Paris 1928

Henry Rushbury made this etching, Bookstalls, Paris, probably in his studio after a visit to the city. I can imagine him there, inking the plate, wiping it back, then running it through the press. It's a scene with the bookstalls near Notre Dame. Look how light the lines are, almost a whisper. A few figures here and there, mostly suggested rather than fully described, and those heavy buildings in the background fading into the sky. I wonder if he was thinking about the weight of history when he made it? The cathedral looming large, solid, while people come and go and books are bought and sold? That contrast between permanence and fleeting moments is really interesting. It makes me think of Piranesi's etchings, but Rushbury's got a lightness, a kind of melancholy. I feel like I'm standing there, watching time pass. We are all just passing through, like words on a page.