The Bay at Saint-Tropez (Le Golfe de Saint-Tropez) 1927

Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac made this drypoint etching of the bay at Saint-Tropez, using densely clustered marks to build up a sense of place. It’s almost like he’s sketching with a needle, letting the landscape emerge from a tangle of lines. I can imagine him out there, squinting in the Mediterranean sun, trying to capture the way the light filters through the trees and shimmers on the water. What was he thinking as he hatched those lines? Was he battling with the plate, or was it all flowing smoothly? Maybe he felt a little anxious, hoping to distill something authentic from the scene before him. I feel a kinship with that process. Notice how the marks aren’t just descriptive. They communicate a feeling, a mood, a whole atmosphere of the place. I see a connection to artists like Lucian Freud, who also used etching to suggest depth and volume. Ultimately, painting and printmaking are about exchange, a continual conversation across generations. Each artist learns from, and responds to, those who came before.