Derby Wharf #1 1915

Philip Little made this etching, Derby Wharf #1, sometime in the early 20th century. It’s all in shades of grey and black, composed of many little tiny etched marks. I can imagine him, bent over his plate, scratching away with a needle. It’s a whole world created out of marks, a little poem of a print. I really feel for Philip here, because you can tell he’s trying to capture all the hustle and bustle of the wharf, with people milling about, ships in the distance, but all he has is this monochrome palette. He’s got to find a way to suggest textures, light, and atmosphere with just lines. Look at the roof of that building on the right, how he uses short, dense strokes to indicate shadow and depth. It's a bit like Cy Twombly, but in miniature! And while it might not be as splashy as some paintings, it's still got that same energy and immediacy, that feeling of the artist’s hand at work. It reminds me of a drawing, and how artists communicate through time using marks.