La Cortina 1901

Giuseppe Barberis made this architectural landscape, La Cortina, with ink and paper, sometime in the 19th century. I look at all those tiny hatching marks, and I imagine Barberis taking his time, like a monk in a scriptorium, slowly building up the image one tiny stroke at a time. He's making a record, a visual document, but he's also conjuring a mood. Look how the dense network of lines creates a sense of depth and texture, giving weight to the ancient buildings and the rocky terrain. The artist might have been thinking about the passage of time, the weight of history. I'm touched by the artist's quiet dedication, his commitment to capturing the essence of this place with such care and precision. And that reminds me of other artists who've found beauty in the everyday, like Agnes Martin. Artists are always in conversation, borrowing, and riffing off each other, and adding their own little something to the mix, aren't they?