Rosetti's Garden 1884

Editor: So, this is *Rosetti's Garden*, an etching in ink on paper by Joseph Pennell, created in 1884. I’m immediately struck by how much detail Pennell manages to capture with just pen and ink. It's almost dreamlike... a little gothic, maybe? What catches your eye? Curator: "Gothic dreamlike-ness", I love it! Yes, Pennell was a master of etching. For me, it’s the way he balances the dark, almost claustrophobic density of the trees with the openness of the garden path. Look how the statue almost seems to glow against that dark backdrop – like a memory taking shape. It feels incredibly personal. Do you get that sense too? Editor: I see what you mean. The statue does pull you in. It's odd - you'd think with all that foliage it would feel overgrown, but the perspective somehow keeps it from feeling too heavy. Curator: Exactly! It's a delicate dance, isn't it? Perhaps the "ghostly presence" is just the feeling that everything living eventually mingles with what's gone? Maybe it is even like memory… layering of loss, light, shadows and growth to keep what it once was alive. Is this garden like a secret place, or do you know it intimately? Editor: Secret, definitely secret. I want to find that bench and just…sit. All of this has been amazing; I thought etching was just…old, but it has so much emotional depth to it! Curator: Old made new again and again – that’s art’s magic trick! The trick is simply to dive in and follow our eyes and our hearts. Who knows what wonders can appear?