Oasis at Daybreak c. 1923

Edward Julius Detmold made this etching, Oasis at Daybreak, at some point during his lifetime, and it feels like an unfolding mirage. The colour is almost not there, and the image is made up of almost ethereal scratches. Looking at the camels, I'm struck by their forms and how they emerge from the ground. It's as if they are waking up, and only half formed. I love how the drypoint needle is used to create a kind of atmospheric haze, a shimmering heat that makes the scene feel both real and dreamlike. It reminds me a bit of Odilon Redon, who knew how to make the unreal feel intensely present. The figures are so slight, almost dissolving into the landscape, which gives the scene a sense of timelessness. It makes you feel like you are witnessing a scene that has been playing out for centuries, and will continue long after we're gone. The ambiguity is what makes it so compelling.