Noon 1930

Arthur Briscoe's "Noon" is an etching; it probably began with a drawing, a plan, but what we see is the result of acid biting into a metal plate. Look at the way Briscoe creates this whole world of sea and sky and men with just thin strokes of black ink. Notice how the lines close together create shadows on the men's faces, and the looser, scratchier marks conjure the churning sea. It's all about the push and pull between control and chance, isn't it? Like life, in a way. The mood of the work is so evocative of the harsh lives of fisherman: the cold, the wet and the constant danger. I'm reminded of Winslow Homer, especially his seascapes. But while Homer often goes for drama, Briscoe finds a quiet, everyday sort of heroism in these figures. Ultimately, it is less about what the picture depicts than the process of its making. The artist invites us to engage with the materiality of art, to see art as a space for thinking through feeling.