Duinlandschap 1888 - 1945

This is Duinlandschap, or 'Dune Landscape', a print made by Chris Lebeau. It’s all scratchy marks and tonal variety created with dark ink on paper. The approach reminds me that artmaking is a process of accrual, like building up sediment over time. The texture is everything here. Look at the lower-left corner, the way Lebeau renders the dune; it's all tiny, close-knit lines, almost vibrating with energy. The rest of the landscape is created with a similar textural sensibility, each mark contributing to the overall feeling of a breezy day on the Dutch coast. The physical act of etching seems almost like a dance, a back-and-forth between control and surrender. The density of marks create a dark and atmospheric foreground, offset by the light and airy sky above. In some ways this reminds me of the prints of Hercules Segers, another Dutch artist who explored the possibilities of landscape and printmaking. Both artists remind us that art is an ongoing conversation, where we’re constantly building on the ideas of those who came before us.