A Fishing Harbour 1913

James McBey made this etching of a fishing harbor with who knows what tools and acids and whatnot. It's so delicate, like a memory fading into the paper. Look at how he’s built the scene with these tiny, almost frantic lines. See the way he's scratched the surface to create texture? It's not just about depicting a place; it's about feeling the grit of the harbor, the dampness in the air. The way the figures are just suggested, barely there, with these scribbly lines. They're solid, sure, but also kind of ghostlike, like they might disappear if you look away. There's a kind of shorthand here, like a visual note-taking. I think of Whistler, who was also trying to capture a place in just a few strokes. It's like they're both saying, "Here, look at this, isn't it beautiful, isn't it fleeting?"