Savoie 1943

Roger Vieillard made this etching called Savoie, and looking at it, I feel like I’m peering into someone’s memory. It’s a landscape distilled to its barest essentials – a few lines suggesting mountains, maybe some trees, all contained within this tiny square. I can imagine Vieillard hunched over the plate, carefully scratching away at the surface, each line a deliberate act of paring down. What was he thinking? Did he approach it like a study, or with the reverence you might feel for a place? For me, it’s less about the specifics of the place and more about the act of remembering, of trying to capture something fleeting and essential. I’m reminded of other artists who’ve taken on the landscape – Agnes Martin’s subtle grids, for example, or maybe even some of those early Cézannes. There's a conversation happening across time, each artist adding their own voice to this ongoing dialogue. Ultimately, it’s a reminder that art is not just about what we see, but how we see it. It’s about the process of making, the act of remembering, and the ongoing conversation between artists across time.