Place Pigalle, Paris 1920

This etching by Antonio Carbonati captures Place Pigalle in Paris through a dense network of delicate lines. The marks build up, almost like a memory unfolding, revealing the scene bit by bit. Looking closely, you can see how Carbonati uses line to create depth and texture. The buildings emerge from a haze of tiny strokes, and the figures are suggested with just a few flicks of the wrist. It's a real testament to the power of process. The spindly tree on the right there, it’s almost skeletal, like a drawing in a notebook, doodled absentmindedly, which makes me think of artists like Piranesi, who used etching to conjure these vast, imaginative spaces. Yet the etching is so light and delicate, a whisper of a place. A reminder that art isn't about perfection, it's about the messy, beautiful act of seeing and feeling.