House Forms 1926

Ralph Pearson made this etching called "House Forms" sometime in the 1920's. Look at the way he's carved into the plate - it's all about the mark making, a real dedication to process. I love the light here. It's not just about describing the houses, but about feeling them, almost like they're breathing. Notice the tower and then how Pearson has made the sky? See the way that the linear marks in the sky contrast with the marks used for the buildings? It’s like he’s not just showing us a place, but also the energy of the place, the wind and the weather. There is a feeling of time passing. It reminds me a little of some of the American Modernists like Marsden Hartley, those guys who were trying to make something new out of the American landscape. But Pearson has his own thing going on, a kind of raw, personal vision. Art isn’t about answers; it’s about the questions we ask and the conversations we start.