Portret van Eric Possibly 1913

Chris Lebeau made this print of Eric at an unknown date using etching. It's so delicate! Look at the way the lines build up to create form, the soft gradations of tone that suggest the curve of Eric's cheek and the shape of his hair. There's something almost tentative about it, as if Lebeau is feeling his way around the subject, not wanting to impose too much. I love the way the image sits on the page, surrounded by so much empty space. It emphasizes the fragility of the image, the way it's almost disappearing into the background. It reminds me a bit of some of Whistler's etchings, where the image is just a whisper on the page. It's like Lebeau is saying, "Here is Eric, but he's also just a ghost, a memory". Art, right, it's all about that delicate balance between presence and absence, something tangible but somehow still a little out of reach.