An Italian Hill 1963

Frank Wright made this etching, called An Italian Hill, sometime before he died in 2020. The limited palette has a soothing effect, doesn’t it? It reminds me of cyanotypes, those ghostly blue photographs from the 19th century. Looking closer, you can see how Wright has used a variety of lines to create form and texture. See the way he's used hatching to create the shadows under the trees? There's a real push-pull there as your eye moves around the picture, trying to decide what's foreground and what's background. The lines create this lovely, almost vibrating, surface. This print reminds me of some of Giorgio Morandi's landscapes. Both artists are interested in the way that simple forms can be used to create a sense of depth and space. Like Morandi, Wright invites us to slow down and really look at the world around us, and maybe even find some beauty in the everyday.