Serpent Merchant Possibly 1908

Auguste-Louis Lepère etched "Serpent Merchant," at the end of the 19th century, with such incredible detail! I can just imagine him hunched over a metal plate, inking the surface, wiping it clean, then pressing paper to the plate to reveal this lively scene. The serpent merchant, sitting with a snake, looks like she's got a secret. The lines are so fine, it's like whispers on paper, creating a world of shadows and light that make her come alive. Lepère probably knew all about the old masters, the way they used lines to create form, but he wasn't trying to copy them; he was talking to them, adding his own voice to the conversation. His marks are urgent and full of life. It reminds me that art is never truly alone, always in dialogue with what came before.