Steeg in Leiden 1888 - 1931

Willem Adrianus Grondhout made this etching of Steeg in Leiden with needle-sharp lines, a tight monochrome palette, and a wonderful sense of light. I’m thinking about the choices Grondhout made. There’s something so humble and humane about this scene. I can see how he meticulously scratched away at the plate, building up the image bit by bit, letting the architecture emerge, guided by his intuition and feeling for the place. What was he thinking as he translated the light and shadow of this ordinary Dutch street into the language of etching? Did he feel the weight of history, the presence of the Old Masters looking over his shoulder? Or was he simply lost in the pleasure of mark-making, of capturing a fleeting moment in time? We see these places through his eyes and carry on the tradition. We're always in conversation with those who came before us.