Grachtenhuizen aan de Sint-Olofssteeg in Amsterdam Possibly 1915

This is Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp’s ‘Grachtenhuizen aan de Sint-Olofssteeg in Amsterdam,’ an etching made sometime in the early 20th century. What a glorious, almost obsessive dedication to the process of mark making! Look how Nieuwenkamp patiently builds up this whole scene with countless tiny etched lines. It’s like he's constructing a whole world, line by line. The texture here is incredible. The way he captures the rough surfaces of the buildings, the reflections in the water, and even the laundry hanging out to dry—it all feels so tangible. The density of the etching creates a kind of visual buzz, a vibration that animates the whole scene. See that little boat, and the figure working on the canal side? That area is alive with marks, a real energy that makes it sing. I can’t help but think of Piranesi’s architectural fantasies. Both artists share this knack for taking the everyday and transforming it into something monumental. Art’s like that, an ongoing conversation across time, where artists borrow, steal, and riff off each other's ideas, building something new from what came before.