Portrait of Whistler 1916

Jacques Reich made this portrait of Whistler, though I'm not sure exactly when. You know what I find amazing? The kind of quietness and introspection that comes through here, made possible by the patient technique of etching. Look how Whistler is leaning back in his chair, hand to his head. You get the impression of a great mind, ticking over, a person just pausing for thought. When I’m in the studio, I can lose myself in a similar way—thinking, dreaming, and working things out on the canvas. The controlled tonal range of the etching feels so different from painting. But, like painting, etching here is a kind of thinking. Reich is thinking about Whistler and Whistler is maybe thinking about art. These kinds of portraits always remind me that art never happens in a vacuum, we are all in conversation with one another.