Kristus i Gethsemane 1901

This is Frans Schwartz’s “Kristus i Gethsemane,” made with etching. Look at those lines, right? It's all about process here. You can see how each mark builds on the last, layer after layer. There’s a real physicality to the etching; you can almost feel the artist digging into the plate. The darks are so rich, created by these tight, dense lines, and then the lighter areas seem to emerge from the absence of marks, like light breaking through clouds. Notice the way the lines follow the forms, giving shape to the figures and the landscape. See how Schwartz uses short, choppy lines to create the texture of the rocky ground, and then long, flowing lines to describe the folds of the angel's robes? It reminds me a bit of Käthe Kollwitz, that same sense of depth and emotion conveyed through stark, powerful lines. It's art as conversation, you know, artists speaking to each other across time. But what I love most is how it embraces ambiguity, leaving space for us to bring our own feelings.