Fontanka 1922

Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva has made this etching of the Fontanka river, with the city buildings on either side, using delicate lines to capture the essence of the urban landscape. You know, sometimes I think about what it’s like to be an artist making these marks, and I wonder what Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva was thinking when she made this. It’s so fragile and delicate, it’s a dance across the plate. I can see the meticulous details, all created with these tiny marks and lines. The etching is mostly light, full of greys, blacks and whites. There is so much air in this image, and I suppose that allows the river to flow freely, but it also creates a sense of space. This makes me think about the dialogue between artists, all responding to each other across time, inspiring each other’s creative insights. It’s a conversation that never ends.