"We're Bound for Rio Grande" 1929

Arthur Briscoe made this etching, "We're Bound for Rio Grande", sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. Look at the way the ink is so densely packed in the lower half of the image! It gives the impression of these sailors being really weighed down, hunkering down on the ship's deck. I love how Briscoe uses the white of the paper to suggest the sails billowing in the wind, or maybe the sky – it's hard to tell. Briscoe's mark-making is so evocative. You can almost smell the sea air and feel the motion of the boat. Take a look at the rigging on the left, see how the lines overlap and intersect, creating a complex web. It reminds me a little of Durer’s engravings with that level of detail. It’s like Briscoe wants us to understand the ship as both a machine and a living thing. It is as if, like the Futurists, he’s interested in capturing a sense of speed and movement. But, unlike them, he’s also rooted in a tradition of maritime painting, like you see in the work of Winslow Homer.