On Hemsö Island 1917

Anders Zorn made this etching, ‘On Hemsö Island’, using black ink on paper. Look how he uses short, choppy lines to build up the figures and the landscape. It’s like he’s thinking through the image, one stroke at a time. Up close, you can see the way the lines vary in thickness and direction. The shadows around the women are created by layering lines on top of each other, almost like a dense thicket. Then there’s the water, made up of these scratchy, horizontal marks that give it a sense of movement. See how Zorn uses the white of the paper to create highlights, making the water shimmer? Zorn was a master of capturing light and form with just a few simple lines, a bit like Rembrandt. This piece reminds me of some of Whistler's etchings. It’s all about suggestion and implication, inviting us to fill in the gaps. It leaves you wondering about the story behind the image.