Stadshuset - Stockholm 1920

Gerhard Albin Albe made this etching of the Stadshuset in Stockholm sometime in the 20th century. It’s all in shades of brown, like an old photograph, and the textures feel almost velvety, which is a cool effect for a building. Look at the sky, how he built it up with all those tiny, scratchy lines. It's a reminder that art isn't just about the final image, but about the actual doing, the labor of making. You can almost feel him hunched over the plate, working away. The way the light catches the water is lovely, too - see how he’s used all those horizontal marks to make it shimmer? The whole thing feels so atmospheric, like a memory. It makes me think of Piranesi’s etchings of Rome, which are also all about mood and drama. Art is just one big conversation, really. It’s never about saying one thing, definitively, but about keeping the dialogue open.