Old Street in Cannes 1929

Percy F. Albee made this print, "Old Street in Cannes," probably sometime in the first half of the twentieth century. With its etched lines, it reminds me that artmaking is always a kind of translation. Here, Albee translates the world into a web of marks, scratches really, that capture the light and shadow of a busy street. Look how the lines darken to suggest the shadows under the awning and the weight of the figures. There’s a real sense of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, all rendered with such economy. The building on the left looks like an ad for "Vins," or maybe it’s the name of the shop, Saglietto Valentin? You can almost feel the Mediterranean sun beating down. This print reminds me of other artists who used etching to capture a sense of place, like Whistler, maybe. But Albee brings his own sensibility to it, a kind of American directness. It’s a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation, each artist building on what came before, but always adding their own unique voice.