St. Gervais, Rue Grenier Sur L'Eau, Paris 1909

John Marin made this etching, St. Gervais, Rue Grenier Sur L'Eau, Paris, on a plate sometime in the early 20th century. The lines swarm and build into these leaning, slightly menacing, architectural shapes, somehow solid but also on the verge of collapse. The whole image feels like a drawing in a hurry, a bit shaky, full of atmosphere. You can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the plate, scratching in the details, the texture of the buildings, and the people milling about. Look at the way he renders the building on the left – all those quick, short lines creating a sense of depth and shadow. It’s like he’s trying to capture not just the way the buildings look, but also how they feel, their weight, their history. There's a kinship with the drawings of the German Expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, in the nervous energy and jagged lines. It’s this restless quality that makes the image so alive.