The Ford 1912

Anders Zorn created this etching, called "The Ford", sometime between 1860 and 1920. Look at the etched lines, the cross-hatching. The tones are built from dark to light, a light emerging from a ground. I bet Zorn was standing over the plate, using line after line, watching the image emerge. You know, it’s like he was coaxing the image into being, allowing the woman to slowly appear from the darkness. I wonder what Zorn was thinking about when he made this? I can imagine him thinking of other artists like Rembrandt and the other great etchers, or maybe he was just lost in the process. You can sense his presence through the mark-making; the etched lines are sensitive and deliberate. This work is part of a larger conversation—painters and printmakers have always looked to one another, borrowing ideas across time. It's just an ongoing exchange of ideas, I guess, and this print really shows that.