Jehan Rictus 1921

This is Théophile Alexandre Steinlen's "Jehan Rictus," made with etching, probably in 1921. It’s a dance of tiny marks, a real testament to the process. The surface is alive with these etched lines, thick in the shadows and so fine they almost disappear in the light. Look at the beard, how it becomes this dense, almost impenetrable mass, then notice the delicacy around the eyes. You can practically feel the burin scratching the plate. Steinlen isn’t hiding the work; he’s showing it off. That little cluster of figures at the bottom feels like a Greek chorus. They’re like a whispered commentary on the main event, which is, of course, this portrait, or the very idea of a portrait. It reminds me a little of the way that Manet would set his figures off against a dark background. Both artists remind us that art is an ongoing conversation, a constant remixing of ideas.