Quincy, no.1 Possibly 1906

Augustus John made this etching, Quincy, no.1, at some unknown date. Look at these marks! They're like a storm of tiny lines, scribbling out a face, a mood. It's all process here, you can feel John working through it. The texture is fascinating - it's all on the surface, this tiny, intimate world created with thin lines. They build up, layer upon layer, suggesting shadows, defining the curve of a cheek. And that one stray line, just below the chin, it's like a secret, a little flourish that tells you someone was really here, thinking and feeling their way through this image. John reminds me of Paula Rego. Both share a way of embracing ambiguity. It’s art that acknowledges the messy, complicated nature of being human. The fixed, definitive meaning is less important than the sense of an ongoing conversation.