Going to Bed 1913

Paul-Albert Besnard made this etching called 'Going to Bed,' and you can imagine the scratching and biting into the metal plate that was needed to make it. It's all about darks and lights, a dance of shadows hinting at a story. I like to think about the artist's hand here, moving, figuring out how to make those lines just so. Was he thinking about intimacy, sleep, or maybe just the way light plays on skin? There's a casualness in the scene, someone lounging while another sleeps, and it makes you wonder about their relationship. That scribbly mark-making, especially in the dark areas, reminds me of other etchers like Whistler, but with a touch more… naughtiness? These artists were all in conversation, responding to each other's takes on the everyday, turning simple moments into something charged and intimate. You are left feeling that it is up to you to bring your own story to it.