Lighthouse, Saint-Tropez (Le Phare de Saint-Tropez) 1930

Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac made this etching, Lighthouse, Saint-Tropez with sparse economical lines. What could he have been thinking as he scratched away at the plate? The etched strokes gather and disperse, and the light and dark areas of the scene emerge, shimmering, with a kind of atmospheric haze. I imagine de Segonzac squinting in the afternoon sun, etching with quick marks. Look at how the sky is evoked with these same strokes as he uses to describe the lighthouse itself. It feels like he's trying to capture the feeling of being there, as well as what it looks like. Painters have always been in conversation, from Manet's loose brushwork to Cezanne's structuring of nature, it all makes me think about how painting teaches us to see, think, and feel in new ways. De Segonzac’s work is a part of this ongoing exchange, inspiring new approaches to art-making with its embodied expression and openness to interpretation.