Gezicht op de ophaalbrug tussen Rapenburg en Uilenburg c. 1911

Willem Witsen made this aquatint of a drawbridge on the Rapenburg canal, between 1885 and 1923. You know, the magic of etching is, it’s all about the surface—the way the light just barely catches. It’s delicate. To get the tonality right, he would have had to keep dipping it in acid, checking, dipping again. Imagine the back and forth! I love how he’s captured the feeling of a rainy day. Did he work from life? Or memory? You can almost hear the water lapping against the side of the canal and smell the damp brick. He seems to be part of a tradition of artists who were interested in the urban landscape, like Whistler. But Witsen is doing something all his own. We all stand on each other’s shoulders, don’t we? That’s the only way art can move forward!