In the Marble City 1909

Donald Shaw MacLaughlan made "In the Marble City" with etching, using black ink on paper. The image swims into view through a haze of horizontal lines, layering up the architecture of a Venetian building; you can see the arches, columns, and recessed statues, like ghosts of a dream. I wonder what it was like for MacLaughlan to be there? Maybe he felt dwarfed by the scale and grandeur of the Italian Renaissance. What kind of ink did he use? It must have been oily and thin. I imagine him wiping the plate, watching the image emerge, and being completely in the moment. Etching is such a particular thing: it is a slow process that requires great skill and precision, but it also leaves room for chance and accidents to happen, little variations in the ink, and pressure that add texture and depth.