Mona 1911

Anders Zorn made this etching, Mona, in 1911. The interesting thing about etchings is the line; the way it can be so descriptive, but also so raw, like a quick notation. Look at the way Zorn uses lines here to build up the woman's face and clothing. It's all about hatching and cross-hatching, these little networks of lines that create tone and shadow. Notice the way her hands are drawn, kind of clasped together, almost disappearing into the fabric of her dress. It's like Zorn is interested in the way that form emerges out of a kind of chaos of marks. It reminds me a little bit of Käthe Kollwitz, in the way that she uses etching to create these really powerful images of working-class people. Of course, Zorn was a very different kind of artist, more interested in portraiture and the play of light, but there's a similar sense of empathy in both their work. It's like they're trying to capture something essential about the human condition.