Pittsburgh, U.S.A. c. 1925

William Walcot made this etching, Pittsburgh, U.S.A., sometime in the early 20th century. You can almost feel the artist searching for the image within the metal plate itself. There's a kind of delicate, almost hesitant quality to the lines. Look at the way the buildings rise up on the right. See how they're not quite fully formed, but more like ghostly impressions? The image is built up by networks of small marks. This kind of all-over composition gives equal importance to each part of the image, resulting in a unified overall surface, where no one part dominates. It reminds me of Piranesi’s etchings of Rome, but with an industrial twist. The whole image has a tentative, searching quality. Like the city itself is still in the process of becoming. Like Walcot is mapping the city one line at a time, while reflecting on the nature of art and image making.