Impasse des Boeufs in Parijs 1884 - 1931

Martin Monnickendam made this print of Impasse des Boeufs in Paris, though I don’t know exactly when or with what. Looking at the marks, I imagine him outside on the street making marks with a tool to create these gritty, scratchy lines. You can almost hear the tool scraping across the plate. I'm really drawn to the tonal range he coaxes from the etching. It's almost monochromatic, but there's something about that range that makes it sing! There is a real balance between the abstract pattern-making that comes from the medium itself, and the depiction of the architecture that Monnickendam is trying to capture. Look closely at the way he renders the textures of the walls: layered marks forming a tapestry of dark and light. This reminds me of Piranesi and his etchings of Rome. Both artists use line to capture the feeling of a place, but there is an interesting sense of play and freedom in Monnickendam’s approach. It reminds me that art is always a conversation!