Kop van een grijsaard met baard before 1909

Mary Hector Rupert Cantineau made this etching, "Kop van een grijsaard met baard," which translates to "Head of an old man with a beard." It’s a portrait shrouded in shadow, the figure emerging from a murky depth. The etching reminds me of the quiet intensity of artists like Paula Rego, and the raw, interior worlds they create. I can imagine Cantineau bent over the plate, carefully layering lines to build up the image, coaxing the old man from the darkness. There's a powerful stillness to his face and I keep wondering, what was Cantineau thinking as they brought this face into being? What stories did they see etched in those lines, in the texture of the beard? It reminds me that art is just a series of conversations, echoing through time.