Avond met regen 1870 - 1941

Eduard Karsen made this etching called Avond met regen, or Evening with Rain, sometime around the turn of the 20th Century. It’s got that lovely monochromatic feel, all moody greys and blacks. The lines here are really doing the work, aren't they? Look at how Karsen uses these tiny, etched lines to build up texture and tone, almost like he's knitting the scene together. You can see it in the way the rain seems to slant across the sky. There's something so satisfying about the way he suggests the reflections in the water with these vertical strokes, broken up by horizontal marks. It’s a super physical process, the way he's digging into that plate. It reminds me a little of Whistler, who also knew how to make an etching feel like a whole world of atmosphere. But of course, Karsen brings his own sensibility, that Dutch moodiness, into the mix. Art’s always this ongoing conversation, isn’t it?