Old Saumur 1905

David Young Cameron made ‘Old Saumur’ with etching, a printmaking technique that involves using acid to cut into a metal plate, which is then inked and used to create an image. I am immediately drawn to the density and depth of the etching. You can sense Cameron’s patient work, line by line, scratching into the plate. There's a real tenderness in the way he renders the scene, almost like a memory half-faded, half-vivid. The textures he creates are incredible, from the rough brickwork to the smooth curves of the pottery in the shop window. It’s fascinating how printmakers like Cameron were engaging with similar questions as painters – how do you capture light, space, and atmosphere? How can a gesture or mark communicate a whole world of feeling? Artists are always bouncing ideas off each other across time, inspiring each other to see and create in new ways.