Bout de Rue Le Soir 1902

This etching, "Bout de Rue Le Soir" by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, captures a street scene with a flurry of lines. It's all about the process, right? How the artist coaxes form out of a swarm of marks. Looking closely, you can see how the texture comes alive, almost like a charcoal drawing. The ink is thin, but the accumulation of lines gives it a real weight. See how Steinlen uses cross-hatching to build up the shadows, creating a sense of depth and atmosphere? The figures emerge from the darkness, their forms suggested rather than described. The little boy in the foreground, for instance, is just a cluster of scribbled lines, yet you immediately recognize him. Reminds me of Kathe Kollwitz and her exploration of social themes and the underclass. It's a conversation, an echo across time, of artists grappling with the human condition. It's never really about one fixed meaning, but a feeling, a moment.