Heath with Junipers 1952

Anthony Gross made this etching, Heath with Junipers, most likely in the mid-20th century. It's all about the line, a nervous, almost scribbled mark-making, to create a detailed landscape. The texture here is amazing, isn't it? Look how the delicate lines build up to suggest depth and volume. The foreground is a tangled mess of branches, and the background fades into a soft, hazy distance. Those foreground lines are so strong and bold, almost obscuring what lies behind. It's like a screen, a filter through which we view the rest of the world. It reminds me that seeing is never neutral, we are always looking through something, some kind of frame. Gross's etching reminds me of Piranesi. It's an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time. Art thrives on embracing ambiguity.