Twee zeilschepen 1877 - 1950

This is an etching called "Twee zeilschepen" by Barbara Elisabeth van Houten. It’s hard to pin down exactly when it was made, but etching is such a great way to translate a drawing into a print, with all that line work. You can really see the hand of the artist at work here in the marks on the plate. Look at the density of lines forming the dark sails in contrast to the sky, and how the etching scratches create an almost turbulent sense of movement. The texture feels almost palpable, like you could reach out and feel the grit of the ink on the paper. I love how those darker marks define the shape of the vessel, like a sculptor carving away at a block of stone. I think of Whistler and his etchings of the Thames, capturing the atmosphere of the river with such economy of line, but van Houten brings such a different sensibility to her work. Ultimately, it’s the tension between representation and abstraction, between the image and the process, that makes this piece so compelling.