Mother 1928

Dwight Case Sturges made this etching called ‘Mother’, and it's a beautiful example of how much emotion you can pack into a black and white image. I’m really drawn to the way Sturges uses line. It’s so economic, not a single mark feels wasted. The lines create form, sure, but they also suggest texture, shadow, and even the quiet atmosphere of the room. Look at the way he renders the hands, they are soft and a little puffy. Then check out the face with all those tiny etched lines. You can feel the weight of time and experience in them. It reminds me how our marks can carry so much feeling, how the simplest gesture can speak volumes. This piece feels like a conversation with artists like Whistler, who also knew how to distill the world into elegant, essential forms. It makes me think about how art is always an ongoing dialogue, a conversation across time and space.