Zeilboten op zee met zicht op een stad 1915

Eugène Bejot made this etching of sailboats at sea with a view of a city. You know, the funny thing about looking at prints is imagining how they're made—all those tiny lines coming together through labor and process! Here, Bejot used a delicate touch, and I can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the plate, carefully etching each line to capture the scene. I wonder if he was seasick while making this, bobbing around on a boat? The sailboats themselves are so elegant, their sails billowing in the wind, while the city in the background adds a sense of depth and perspective. But really, it is the collection of etched marks, that, when combined, suggest the ocean, the sky, and the boats moving through water. Like Whistler's prints, it's as if Bejot used a light touch to capture the quietness of the scene. And that’s what keeps me interested, this sense of a single mark's capacity to hold space.