Monsieur Fournier Sarlovèze, Member of the French Chamber of Deputies 1922

Walter Tittle made this etching, Monsieur Fournier Sarlovèze, sometime in the early twentieth century. I imagine the artist hunched over a copper plate, carefully incising lines with a burin, building up the image bit by bit. Look at those fine lines that describe the planes of Sarlovèze’s face and the controlled, feathery strokes that define the contours of his hair and mustache. It's amazing what you can do with just line! I think about the delicate balance an artist has to strike between precision and expressiveness in portraiture. How do you capture likeness while also conveying something of the sitter's character or spirit? Tittle clearly admired Sarlovèze, and that respect comes through in every carefully rendered detail. The cross-hatching has such control, just like a Ingres drawing! The history of mark-making is long, and this work speaks to that legacy.