Landschap met vee en herderin 1861

George Andries Karsen made this etching titled "Landschap met vee en herderin" or "Landscape with cattle and shepherdess." The etching process, in which a metal plate is coated with wax, scratched with a needle, and then submerged in acid, has a fascinating relationship to labor. The artist has to have a detailed plan before beginning, and a steady hand. The etched lines, full of texture, create a range of tonal values, from the dark foreground to the light background. Karsen may have been commenting on the relationship between people and the land. The work involved in shepherding is hard, but the shepherdess is portrayed in a serene and idyllic way, elevated by her placement on top of one of the bulls. Recognizing the labor that goes into both the art and the lifestyle it portrays encourages us to move beyond conventional categories of "high" and "low" art. The value of this print lies in its ability to provoke thought about the role of work in the creation of both art and livelihood.