Uitgeversprospectus voor La Parisienne fin XIXe siecle door Henri Jourdain 1874 - 1931

Henri Jourdain made this print, Uitgeversprospectus voor La Parisienne fin XIXe siecle, sometime in the late 19th century. It’s hard to miss that he was all about the process, wasn't he? Look at the way the lines are scratched and scraped into the plate – a real hands-on approach. What strikes me is how Jourdain lets the materiality of the printmaking process shine. The lines are raw, almost like he's inviting us to see the work that went into it. There's this one area, near the bottom left, where the lines are so dense they almost vibrate. It reminds me that art isn't just about the image, it's about the physicality of making, the stuff it's made of. It reminds me of Whistler, actually, especially his etchings of London. But where Whistler is all about atmosphere, Jourdain feels a bit more direct. He's not hiding anything. Art's an ongoing conversation, right? Everyone's riffing off each other, taking ideas and making them their own. It’s a good reminder that meaning is always shifting, always open to interpretation.