Het oude kerkhof van Bouzaréah, bij Algiers 1910

This etching of an old graveyard near Algiers by Philip Zilcken feels like a memory fading into sepia tones. Imagine Zilcken, squinting in the North African sun, carefully laying down each line to capture the scene before him. The palm trees cluster together, their fronds like dark scribbles against the hazy sky. There's a quietness to it, a sense of time slowing down. I wonder what Zilcken was thinking as he worked on this piece. Did he feel the weight of history in this place, the lives lived and lost? Look closely and you can see the delicate lines that define the architecture. Maybe Zilcken saw something of himself in those crumbling walls, the way they'd weathered the storms and stood the test of time. He was an etcher and engraver, so he knew the importance of a line. It reminds me that art is always a conversation, artists responding to each other across generations, trying to make sense of the world and their place in it.