Regnvejrsdag i granskoven 1901

Hans Julius Fæster made this etching, "Regnvejrsdag i granskoven" or "Rainy Day in the Spruce Forest," here at the SMK. I’m struck by how Fæster uses the etching process to create a really dynamic sense of light and shadow. It’s all about the push and pull of the blacks and whites. Look at how the lines are built up to create the sense of depth and texture. The way the light filters through the trees reminds me that art-making is a process of layering and building, kind of like how memories accumulate over time. Like, right there, that one dark mark suggesting a tree trunk, it’s like a memory, solid and present. Fæster reminds me of Whistler. There's that same interest in atmosphere and the quiet beauty of everyday scenes, but also, like, the awareness that you can't ever really capture a moment, only suggest it, and in that suggestion, something real emerges.