A Skeri Girl 1912

Anders Zorn made this etching called "A Skeri Girl", and looking at it, you can just imagine the scratching away, and the cross-hatching to build up the light and shadow. What was he thinking as he etched the image of this girl into the plate? It's interesting how the white of the paper becomes the source of light, isn’t it? Like the girl's headscarf, dotted with white spots – each one a conscious decision to leave untouched. I can really feel Zorn's hand in this, and the history of printmaking itself. You can see the influence of the old masters in his technique, but it's also so fresh and immediate. It’s like he's having a conversation with Rembrandt or Whistler, echoing their concerns but with his own unique voice. It’s a reminder that artists are always in dialogue, building upon and responding to what came before, which is how art keeps evolving.