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By DIANA BIRD
Rappahannock News Contributing Writer
The Middle Street Gallery is presently showing an exhibition of nine etchings by Thomas Spande.
These nine meditations, inspired by Piranesi’s Prison Caprices etched in Rome in the mid 1700’s, are powerful statements about some facets of two cities — Boston and New York. While there is a superficial resemblance, I don’t think it helps to compare or contrast Mr. Spande with Piranesi; for one thing, .the latter’s works are more fanciful and Kafka-like than Spande’s.
I was first impressed with the ' great variety of scenes Mr. Spande was able to depict within a limited repertoire. In some of the etchings, the sense of depth and height — a . concern with perspective — is paramount. In'others, the perspective is - shallow and the bulk of the buildings is emphasized. _ As I examined the pictures closely, I had the sensation that my eyes .were making an adjustment as they do when one comes indoors from a bright day. The more I looked, the more light was reflected from the - surfaces among the black lines.
Etching is a complicated techrtique; most important, the artist must draw his image in reverse, making a mirror image. Tom Spande created these etchings •not as copies of paintings but as original works of art although he seems to have some photographs as reminders.
At first, the expressionist, deeply and widely dug lines on zinc plate and the darkness of most of the pictures seemed an obtrusive difference from other etchings I have seen, but when 1 discarded pre-conceived ideas, I enjoyed the immediacy of his technique,and marveled at his skill.
The picture I enjoyed the most 'was “Fire Escapes” where the idea of stair steps is repeated with five water storage tanks, a familiar fea
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