Pastorale 1955

Doel Reed made this print, titled Pastorale, using etching, a process of eating away at a metal plate with acid to create an image. It’s all in shades of gray, a bit like a black and white photograph, but with a handmade feel. The whole scene is built up of very fine etched lines. Look at the way Reed uses them to build up the soft, glowing light on the figures. See how the lines are denser in the shadows, giving weight and form to the trees. The figures seem to emerge from the darkness. The fabric they hold has a tactile quality. It reminds me that printmaking, like painting, is a physical process that relies on the artist’s hand to bring the image to life. Reed's print has an unsettling, dreamlike quality. The figures are reminiscent of Picasso's neoclassical period. There’s something timeless and universal in Reed’s creation. Art is always this ongoing dialogue across history, an endless conversation that embraces ambiguity and multiple perspectives.