La Amable 1924

Walter Gramatté made this etching, La Amable, using metal and acid to bite into the plate, and then ink to make the image on paper. I feel for Gramatté making this portrait, it is not easy making an image, especially of another person. I wonder if he knew this woman, La Amable, or if he made her up? Either way, it feels like he is trying to capture her essence through these fine lines. Look how the lines of her hair seem to vibrate around her face. This reminds me of the portraits of Kirchner or Heckel from around the same time. The linear quality gives it a raw, immediate feel, like he's scratching directly into our consciousness. It's like Gramatté is having a conversation with these other artists across time and space, each riffing off the other's ideas and techniques. And it makes me wonder, what would Gramatté think of my own paintings?