Pillars of Vermont 1942

Luigi Lucioni made "Pillars of Vermont" as an etching, and it’s all about the dance of line, isn't it? The way he scratches those tiny marks to build up the form. You get a real sense of the process, the labor, almost like you’re watching him build the scene, line by line. Look at the sky – he’s used a whole bunch of short, choppy lines to give the clouds weight and volume. It's like he is dragging his tool to follow the clouds movement, but it doesn't cover the page so you get a light of the sky behind. And then you zoom in on those silos, how they loom, made from all of these vertical strokes! There is a lovely texture and shadow, which contrast with the delicate, almost airy, distance. Lucioni reminds me a little of an artist like Edward Hopper, with a certain somberness and clarity. "Pillars of Vermont" is quiet and self-contained, but it still invites you in to imagine the scene, dream a little and feel the slow pace of the countryside.