Twisted Trees 1914

Auguste-Louis Lepère made this print, "Twisted Trees," which now lives at The Art Institute of Chicago. It's all about texture and light, created through these tiny, deliberate marks. Imagine Lepère, his hand moving across the plate, building up this scene bit by bit. I wonder if he felt small standing before those trees? It must have felt amazing. The way he's carved the lines, it’s almost like feeling the rough bark under your fingers. The textures communicate a sensation of being there, with him. The scale of the trees makes you realize their immensity, and the lone figure at the tree’s base highlights Lepère's goal to explore the sublime. Lepère invites us into this forest not just to see it, but to experience it. And that's what great art does, it's not just about looking, it's about feeling, thinking, and connecting. Artists, we are all just in conversation with each other through time.