The New Titian Arrives—57th Street c. 1930

Richard Lahey made this etching, "The New Titian Arrives—57th Street," and I imagine, he used a metal plate to create all those tiny, teeming lines. There's a beautiful sense of process here; you can almost feel Lahey's hand moving across the plate. Look at how he captures the crowd, all those figures clustered together! It's like a swarm, a hive of anticipation. The lines are scratchy, urgent, giving the scene a real sense of energy and immediacy. And then there's the painting itself, or rather, the *idea* of the painting, with its own gravity, drawing everyone in. It’s really interesting to see an artist engaging with the past like this. Lahey seems to be in conversation with artists like Daumier or maybe even Whistler, wrestling with similar themes of modern life and art. For me, this print is all about that tension between tradition and the new, between the masterpiece and the everyday.