Rainy Day, New York c. 1933

Levon West made this print of a rainy day in New York without telling us when, or what he was thinking, but we can still have a guess. He has bitten the metal plate with acid to create lines and tones, and it’s a pretty moody scene. It looks like it was probably hard work, right? I can imagine West outside with his copper plate, squinting in the rain, getting splashed by passing cars. Maybe he was trying to capture a certain feeling, a specific kind of melancholy or a uniquely New York vibe? I like how the umbrellas become shapes, bobbing about like dark balloons in the gray atmosphere. It makes me think of other artists, like Whistler, and how they use tone and atmosphere to suggest emotion. Ultimately, this print leaves plenty of room for our own interpretations, and offers a kind of exchange across time.