Gezicht op het Rijksbankgebouw, te Stockholm before 1971

Willem Swidde made this view of the Rijksbank building in Stockholm with etching sometime in the late 17th century. I can almost feel Swidde's focus as he painstakingly etched each line, capturing the building's facade and the bustling city life around it. It must have taken some time, right? Look how the crisp lines define the architecture, and how he's built depth with all those tiny, deliberate marks. I find myself wondering what it was like for him, standing there, observing the scene. What did he think about? Did he worry about the weather? Did he have a coffee that morning? Did he ever think that hundreds of years later, we’d still be looking at this, trying to figure out his intentions? You know, making art is always a conversation. Swidde was in conversation with his city, with the techniques he used. I'm in conversation with him now, and you’re part of it, too. It's like we're all building on each other's ideas, trying to make sense of the world.