Gadeparti i en udkant af København 1906

This cityscape, ‘Gadeparti i en udkant af København’—or ‘Street Scene on the Outskirts of Copenhagen’—was etched by Adolph Larsen in 1906. Think of Larsen, carefully inking the plate, wiping away the excess, and then pressing the paper onto the metal. I see a cobblestone street receding into the distance, tramlines cutting through, and those trees—reaching, almost clawing, at the sky. There's a solitary figure standing outside the building, apron on, maybe a baker readying for the day. It's all in shades of gray, a monochrome world where light and shadow play the main roles. I wonder what Larsen was thinking about? Was he trying to capture the essence of this place? I think so, but he also probably just wanted to make something beautiful. This work reminds me a little of Whistler's prints, the way he found beauty in everyday scenes. And isn’t that what we all try to do, as artists, in our own way? We talk to each other across time, Adolph and James and me, all trying to make sense of the world with our own materials and our own marks.