Canot de Pêche 1923

André Dauchez made this etching, *Canot de Pêche*, at an unknown date, and what strikes me about it is the kind of patient looking and mark-making evident throughout. I think the image shows how much he enjoyed looking and then trying to communicate his vision of it. There's a lot of detail in this small picture, yet Dauchez uses the most economical of lines. Look at how the dry scratch of the mark-making tool builds up the image of these boats resting on the shore and the town beyond. I'm interested in the way he has scratched the surface of the plate to build up the areas of shade and shadow around the boats; the marks are so light yet so descriptive. The mood of this piece reminds me of the work of James McNeill Whistler. Dauchez doesn't seek to create a perfect representation of the scene but rather to evoke its atmosphere through the arrangement of tones and lines. It's more like a memory of a place than a record.