The Spanish Steps from Above 1966

Prentiss Taylor made this lithograph, The Spanish Steps from Above, and the way he’s built up the image with layers of marks feels almost architectural itself. Look at how the lines in the foreground are so controlled, almost like a technical drawing. Then, as you move towards the background, those lines break up into this gorgeous haze that suggests the depth and complexity of the city. There’s a contrast between precision and looseness here, which creates a push and pull of focus, making the eye dance across the image. I’m drawn to the shadowed area under the awning, those marks suggest so much about the quality of light and shadow, but also about the mood of the space, which is quiet, and maybe a little melancholic. It reminds me of the prints of Edward Hopper, and I can see a similar interest in capturing the loneliness of urban spaces. But where Hopper uses light, Taylor uses line, embracing the ambiguities inherent in a graphic medium.