Effect of the setting sun 1902

Théophile Alexandre Steinlen made this print called ‘Effect of the Setting Sun’ using etching to give it that atmospheric feel. You can almost feel the end of the day, can't you? The way the light scratches across the sky, it's so immediate. The whole scene feels like a fleeting moment, caught just before it disappears. It is all about the surface here, you know? The way the ink sits on the paper, the little burrs and imperfections – they give the print such a rich, tactile quality. It feels like you could reach out and touch the light itself. Look at the figures in the foreground, they are like a dark mass, almost anonymous. But then you see the individual strokes, the tiny details that bring them to life. It's that tension between the abstract and the representational that I find so compelling. Think about other artists that explore light in a similar way, like Whistler with his Nocturnes, that same kind of dreamy, atmospheric mood. It’s a reminder that art is always a conversation, a dialogue across time and space.