Bathers, Plate III 1928

Harold Weston made this etching, 'Bathers, Plate III', sometime in the 20th century. It looks like he’s built up the figures and landscape through a series of marks. It's as if he's coaxing the image out of the plate, each line a step closer to revealing these two bathers. I wonder what he was thinking as he worked on this piece. There's a tactile quality to the print, a contrast between the dark, solid forms of the bathers and the lighter, more ephemeral water around them. See how the light dances on the surface, created by these deliberate scratches and strokes. It’s not just about depicting a scene; it's about capturing a feeling. It’s like he's inviting us to feel the sun on our skin and the coolness of the water. I love the simplicity of the composition. Weston reminds me of other artists who were similarly trying to evoke the sensations of being in the world. Painting and printmaking, they are ways of seeing, thinking, and feeling. They're like conversations that artists have across time, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways.