Box at the Metropolitan 1934

Reginald Marsh’s Box at the Metropolitan is an etching, and looking at it, I’m thinking about the printing press and the whole idea of making multiple originals, which is kind of mind-blowing, right? I feel like I’m in the theatre with Marsh, looking at the audience, and not the stage. All those well-to-do types in their fancy clothes! I bet Marsh had a real field day etching all the details, all those tiny marks, cross-hatching like crazy to get the light and shadow just right. Marsh does that thing that reminds me of Hogarth and Daumier – he's got an eye for the everyday, the quirky, the slightly grotesque. I wonder if he was thinking about them when he made this? Probably, artists are always looking at each other’s work, trying to one-up each other, or just straight up stealing ideas. It’s all part of the game!