Place Pigalle, Paris 1920

Antonio Carbonati made this print of Place Pigalle in Paris, likely using etching or a similar technique to get those fine, delicate lines. I can imagine him standing there, maybe on a slightly chilly day, squinting a little as he captures the scene. There’s such incredible detail in the buildings, and the way he’s rendered the bare trees is just amazing. Look at how the branches reach out, all spindly and intricate. I wonder if Carbonati felt a connection to artists like Whistler, who also loved to capture urban scenes with a kind of poetic realism. There’s something timeless about this image, like a moment frozen in ink. And that’s what artists do, isn’t it? They invite us to pause, to really look, and to find beauty in the everyday. It's a quiet conversation across time.