Zelfportret van Gerard ter Borch before 1903

Jan Mesker made this self-portrait of Gerard ter Borch using etching. You see this cascade of lines here, this overall darkness and tone? I imagine Mesker, hunched over his etching plate, his face close to the metal, carefully building up the image. I wonder what he was thinking as he rendered Ter Borch's likeness? Did he feel a connection to this historical figure? I'm thinking about the physicality of printmaking, you know, the pressure of the tool, the resistance of the plate, the way the image slowly emerges through labor. Each line is decisive, permanent. It's a far cry from the fluidity and immediacy of painting! Look at how Mesker suggests volume and depth with these subtle gradations. It reminds me that art-making, in any form, is a kind of conversation across time, with artists riffing on what came before, trying things out, pushing the boundaries of their medium. And here we are now, looking at it, joining the discussion.