Sunset and Moonrise at Cilian-Aeron 1902

F. L. Griggs created this landscape scene, "Sunset and Moonrise at Cilian-Aeron," using graphite. It looks like Griggs coaxed the image out of the paper with these tiny, energetic marks, all vibrating together. It reminds me of Seurat. I imagine him sitting there, squinting, trying to capture the light filtering through those trees. The landscape opens up to a distant horizon. Did he feel it? That ache of longing for something just beyond reach? I bet he was thinking about all those other landscape artists who came before him, like Constable, or even Corot. They were all wrestling with similar problems: how to capture the immensity of nature, the way the light changes everything, and the feeling that we're just tiny little specks in a much larger world. It is all about our experience, our gaze. I feel that. He makes you feel that. Artists are always riffing off each other, you know? It’s one big conversation across time.