Clothes Seller 1918

William Auerbach-Levy made this print of a clothes seller, using etching, a process where lines are drawn into a metal plate with acid. The whole thing is kind of sepia toned, like an old photograph faded over time. Look at the way Auerbach-Levy describes the weight of the bag with these tight, dense clusters of tiny etched lines. You can almost feel the heft and texture, even though it’s just on a flat surface. See, the craquelure effect is like little fissures running through the image, adding a sense of age and history. It's like the image itself has lived a life! This work reminds me of Daumier's lithographs, in its attention to the everyday lives of working people. Auerbach-Levy gives this figure a real sense of dignity. In art, ambiguity can be powerful, it lets us bring our own experiences and interpretations.