Mont Saint Michel 

Joseph Hecht made this engraving of Mont Saint Michel, probably in the 1920s or 30s, by incising lines into a metal plate. See how he uses a dense network of fine marks to build up the image, almost like a woven textile? This effect is partly due to the nature of engraving, which requires immense patience and control. But it also speaks to the long history of printmaking as a means of mass production. Hecht was part of a generation of artists interested in democratizing art, making it accessible to a wide audience. The image’s precision speaks to the industrial age, but also to the tradition of skilled craftsmanship. The intense labor involved in creating this image is palpable, a reminder that even in the age of mechanical reproduction, the human hand remains essential. By attending to both the image and the means of its making, we can appreciate the full complexity of this deceptively simple print.