San Francisco Shoreline 1948

George Stillman created this print titled "San Francisco Shoreline", using etching techniques to manipulate tonal values, surface and space. The composition is structured around a mesh of interwoven marks, suggesting a landscape viewed through a fractured lens. The artist disrupts traditional modes of representation using the raw, linear quality of the etched lines to produce a dynamic surface. The monochrome palette heightens the textural contrasts, turning the image into a play of light and shadow. Stillman's manipulation of the etching process is of great importance here. The medium itself becomes a statement, questioning the nature of image making and echoing broader artistic shifts towards abstraction and conceptual approaches. The absence of colour reinforces the focus on form, allowing the artist to examine the very structure of perception. The "San Francisco Shoreline" becomes a landscape re-imagined as an interplay of form and surface.