Road to the Brick-Kiln 1913

This is Auguste-Louis Lepère’s, "Road to the Brick-Kiln", an etching from the late 19th century. Just look at the frenetic energy of Lepère’s mark making, the sheer number of lines scratched onto the plate! It reminds us that art is, at its heart, a process. Up close, the texture is incredible, a symphony of hatched lines creating depth and shadow. See how the trees in the foreground are dark and dense, throwing the landscape into deep relief. This technique gives the whole scene a lively, almost vibrating quality. Note the figure in the left foreground, lying down at rest; in comparison to the density of the foliage, they seem to fade into nothingness. This tension between detail and dissolution is what I love most about Lepère's work. Lepère reminds me of Whistler, another master of etching, but with a distinctly French sensibility. Both artists saw art as an ongoing experiment, full of happy accidents and endless possibilities.