Mon doux pays, ou etes-vous? 1927

Georges Rouault made this print using aquatint and etching; you can see how the dark ink has bitten into the paper. You can imagine the artist layering the ink, wiping it back, and re-biting the plate to get these deep, velvety blacks. The figures are lying down as the buildings around them burn. It’s such a sad image, and Rouault really sympathizes with the downtrodden in his work. I’m wondering what he was thinking about when he made this; what country was he longing for? Where was his sweet land? Look at that smoke billowing in the background. The marks become less descriptive and more atmospheric, almost like a Turner sunset turned into a gothic nightmare. Rouault worked with some intense contrasts here, pitting light against dark, hope against despair. Painters are always talking to each other, across time, and Rouault is in conversation with a whole history of printmaking, but also with his own emotions. It’s a real reminder that art is about feeling as much as it is about seeing.