Fifth Avenue at Night 1923

Muirhead Bone's etching, "Fifth Avenue at Night," captures a New York street in July 1923, using a monochromatic palette. Can you imagine Bone, standing on the street, squinting in the dim light? I'm thinking about how the artist has worked at creating this dark, suggestive atmosphere. It's like he's teasing out the image from the darkness. The way the buildings emerge from the shadows, it's almost sculptural, like he’s carving into the night. The lines create this feeling of depth and movement. It's like the city is breathing, a living, growing thing. It’s a conversation between darkness and light, absence and presence, and Bone invites us to participate in the exchange. This approach is kind of like Whistler, don't you think? Painters have always been in dialogue with one another, building on each other's discoveries.