New Orleans 1927

This is Childe Hassam’s "New Orleans" in the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It's a small etching on paper, and all of a sudden I’m imagining the artist outside in the heat and sun. The surface is a symphony of tiny marks, creating the illusion of light on the cathedral and the statue in the square. I’m trying to get into the head of Hassam as he works on this plate. Each line is like a small decision, a little breath. It feels like he wants to capture the essence of the place without getting too fussy about it. He’s part of a whole group of painters, etching and drawing, and influencing each other. Think of Whistler, and how he captured the fog of London with a similar technique! Artists are always in conversation, across time, and across the world. Even a small etching like this speaks volumes. Painting and printing are acts of translation, turning the world into feeling. It's never a perfect mirror, but rather an invitation.