Bouquet d'Ormes 1924

André Dauchez's "Bouquet d'Ormes," a monochromatic print, captures a landscape with a cluster of trees in the foreground. I imagine Dauchez, squinting slightly, meticulously etching each line to bring this scene into being. The lines are so precise! You can see the texture of the leaves, the rough bark of the trees, and the distant buildings. I can almost feel the breeze rustling through the branches. The details, like the fence in the foreground, are so delicately rendered. I wonder if Dauchez was thinking of Corot, and the way he could evoke the feeling of a place with just a few strokes of his brush. Or maybe he was inspired by the Barbizon school, and their love of the French countryside. There's a sense of calm, an almost meditative quality. It makes me want to grab my own tools and try to capture a fleeting moment, translating what I see into a language of marks and gestures. That’s what it’s all about, right? Visual conversation across time.