Banks of the Somme at Amiens 1907

Auguste-Louis Lepère made this print of the Banks of the Somme at Amiens, and what I love about it is how he coaxes so much information from such a limited palette. It’s all about the marks he makes. Lepère layers these tiny, intricate strokes to build up the scene, from the shimmering water to the detailed architecture along the riverbank. The texture is really important here; you can almost feel the roughness of the paper and the delicate lines of the etching. There is a kind of energy to the scene, captured in these small gestures and marks. Look at the ripples in the water. Lepère describes the reflections with single lines. The marks are not blended or fussed over, but they are precise. Think of Whistler, another great printmaker who was interested in capturing a sense of place. Both artists remind us that art is a process of seeing, feeling, and translating the world around us, one mark at a time. What could be more poetic than that?