Festival of Water and Lights 1937

Henry de Waroquier made this etching, 'Festival of Water and Lights', with densely packed marks like he's trying to capture the city's energy. Imagine him hunched over the plate, working those lines, pushing and pulling at the image. I feel like de Waroquier is reaching back to Piranesi's architectural fantasies while also trying to grasp the speed of modern life. The Eiffel Tower looms, fireworks explode above; it’s all this crazy energy. It makes me think about how artists see the world, not just as it is, but as this swirling mix of past, present, and future. The way he’s layered everything is like a conversation, a dialogue with other artists, other ideas. And that’s what art is, right? We’re all just talking to each other, across time, trying to make sense of it all.