Boten op een meer 1860

This etching, titled "Boats on a Lake," was made by Joseph Hartogensis in the mid-19th century. It’s a scene rendered in a decidedly unostentatious manner; printed in ink on paper, it’s the kind of image that was widely reproduced and consumed at the time. Hartogensis has used the etching technique to give us a sense of the activity on this waterway. Look closely and you will see the mass-produced, etched lines give a textural sense of the water rippling, the leaves of the trees, and the sails billowing. The image has a distinct relationship to Dutch landscape painting, yet the artist has democratized the image through a process of reproduction. The original drawing on a metal plate would have taken considerable skill, but then many copies could be made; the artist would have been paid not for his unique touch, but for his labor and skill in creating a matrix for the printing press. Next time you see an etching, consider its place in a wider system of commerce and consumption.