Ænder 1917

Søren Lund made this etching, called "Ænder", or ducks, at an unknown date. Look closely, and you'll see it's all about lines—thousands of them, hatched and cross-hatched to build form, light, and shadow. See how Lund uses these lines to capture the texture of the ducks' feathers, the ripple of the water? It's like he's building the image from scratch, one tiny mark at a time, revealing the whole scene through a process of patient accumulation. The dark, velvety blacks of the ink give a real weight to the ducks in the foreground, anchoring them in the scene, while the background fades into a hazy distance. There's a duck on the right side of the composition which almost looks as though it is glowing in the light. And, because it's an etching, you get this incredible sense of depth and atmosphere. It reminds me of James Ensor in that way; the way it combines intricate detail with a kind of dreamlike ambiguity. It's a reminder that art isn't about perfection, but about the messy, beautiful process of trying to capture the world around us.