Mersea: Sunset 1924

James McBey made this etching, Mersea: Sunset, with delicate lines and a warm, muted palette, and it feels like he coaxed the image into existence. You can almost feel the artist there, carefully layering each line, making decisions, changing course, and slowly building up this evocative scene. I wonder what McBey was thinking as he created this piece? Maybe he was reflecting on the transient beauty of nature, trying to capture the fleeting light of the setting sun. Look at how he renders the clouds with short, broken lines, as if trying to pin down something as elusive as the sky itself. Then notice the grounded solidity of the boat. And look at the scratchy hatching that defines the hull of the larger grounded vessel. With an economy of line he’s given it shape and volume! It makes you think about the ongoing conversation between artists across time and place. McBey, in his way, contributes to a lineage of landscape artists. His way of seeing and rendering the world inspires us. Painting, like any art form, embodies expression. It’s ambiguous, open to interpretation, and resists any fixed reading.