Le Pont Neuf, Paris (with remarque) 1906

"Le Pont Neuf, Paris," was made by Donald Shaw MacLaughlan, though I don’t know exactly when. It's an etching, so already we're thinking about process, because you have to make a plate before you even make the picture, a kind of double vision. Look at the hatching! It's so dense, so deliberate, creating these rich, almost velvety dark areas. But then there are also these bare, untouched spaces of paper, which make it feel open and light. Notice the contrast between the solid stone of the bridge and the reflections in the water? Those lines aren't just describing things, they're creating a mood, a sense of place. I find myself thinking of Piranesi, but without all that theatrical drama. And then there's that little sketch, the "remarque," at the bottom. It's like a little secret, a bonus image for those who really look. McLaughlan invites you to see Paris not as a grand monument, but as a lived-in, working city. It's a really conversational kind of image making, isn’t it?