Poissons (Fish) 1951

Anthony Gross made this etching, Poissons, which means Fish in French, sometime in the 20th century. It’s a world of lines really, where everything seems to be made of marks, and it shows us how an artist can construct an entire universe with the simplest of means. Looking closely, you can see the texture of the paper, slightly rough, giving the whole image a sort of grainy feel, like you’re looking at an old photograph. It's like Gross wants you to feel the materiality of the print itself. See that one fish near the bottom, the big spotted one? The way the spots are just these haphazard little circles, it's so playful, almost child-like. And it’s the interplay between the detail and the spontaneity that gives the piece its energy. Gross reminds me a bit of Picasso, especially his looser, more whimsical drawings. Both artists had this incredible ability to suggest form and movement with just a few lines. And that’s what art is all about, isn’t it? A conversation, an ongoing exploration of ideas and techniques, where nothing is ever truly finished or resolved.