Newspaper Stall, Rue de Seine c. 1892 - 1893

Editor: This is James McNeill Whistler's "Newspaper Stall, Rue de Seine," a small etching. It feels very fleeting and spontaneous to me. I’m curious, what catches your eye when you look at this print? Curator: It’s funny you say fleeting, because the etching technique itself feels permanent, doesn't it? The bustling street scene… a little blurred, a little like memory. I wonder if Whistler wanted to capture the *feeling* of Paris, more than the reality. What do you think? Editor: That’s a great point! It definitely has a dreamlike quality. I hadn’t considered the permanence of the medium versus the ephemeral subject. Curator: Right? It's that tension, that little paradox, that makes it so interesting. Perhaps he was wrestling with how to freeze a moment in time. We all do, don't we? Editor: Absolutely. It gives me a lot to think about. Thanks!