Taxco c. 1930s

Frances S. Badger made "Taxco" as a print on paper, and the texture of the paper itself feels key here. I think about Frances drawing these tiny meticulous marks, thousands of them, to make this image come alive. The marks create these looming and beautiful buildings with towers and domes, nestled into a landscape of mountains. And I'm picturing her maybe sitting in the town square, or looking out from a high window, trying to get this feeling of the space, and the heaviness of the architecture. Like a painter, she considers the texture, the light, and the shadow as the medium to create the form. I feel the sun must be so bright there, the way the darks really contrast with the light spots. It's a testament to how artists, like Frances, see the world, making these lines, cross-hatching and shadowing to find light.